Ignorant or Just Plain Racist?

Today, many Civil Liberties groups are calling for the resignation of Louisiana Justice, Keith Bardwell. Apparently, the Louisiana Justice of Peace of Tangipahoa Parish in the southeastern part of the state, refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. Earlier this month, Beth Humphrey, a white woman, and Terence McKay, a black man, were refused a marriage license by the Louisiana justice.

In response, Baldwell, the white Lousiana justice said that he thinks that any future children of interracial couples will have a troubled life. Wow, what a strong statement! I mean, I think Barack Obama, the child of an interracial couple, is completely troubled, being the president and all. Many other people with Liberties groups have expressed similar sentiments. In fact, Bill Quigley, director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Justice, specifically said "Perhaps he's worried the kids will grow up and be president," ("he" referring to the justice).

After other angry people started to show their distaste, the Justice stopped answering his phone and Thursday, he specifically stated "No one's ever complained about it before...I do it to protect the children. The kids are innocent and I worry about their futures." This is exactly an example of stepping backwards into a time when the US was very racist. This very action is undermining the efforts of the Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s.

The justice actually believes that what he is doing is correct and is in no way racist at all. This is the kind of ignorance that damages the American image. Although I can't say whether Baldwell deserves to lose his job, it is clear that he just hurt his public opinion very much, just like Kanye and his embarrasing episode at the MTV awards.

Baldwell was a justice for 34 years, and he says that everytime he ran without opposition. However, after his current term expires, he will not try for another. Smart move.

-Henry Zhang

Smoking May be Deadly and Selfish

According to a federally commissioned panel of scientists, bans on smoking in restaurants and other public areas reduced wide spread decreases in cases of heart disease and heart attacks. The report issued by the Institute of Medicine just further confirms what many people already know: second hand smoking is very deadly. In this article, it was mentioned that "Even a small amount of exposure to secondhand smoke can increase blood clotting, constrict blood vessels and can cause a heart attack."

The report also says that in places like New York, where there have been bans on smoking in public areas, there is a drop in disease rates related to smoking. However, the studies seem incomplete, in that, there is no concrete evidence that that bans alone are causing the decrease in the disease rates. Other societal and environmental factors could play some role as well. Despite that, I still think that there should be more restrictions on smoking, in general.

Although I realize that smoking is up to the individual, just like alcohol is, it should be put out eventually. Now, that opinion is somewhat biased, since I am very adamant about not smoking. The reason I am like this is because in my elementary school in Canada, a whole week was dedicated to learning about the dangers of smoking. The people who worked at a nearby health institute came to my elementary school and told us the terrible ingredients in a cigarette like tar and formaldehyde. They also had, on display, a healthy human lung and one damaged by years of smoking. What shocked me was that second hand smoke exposure is actually more dangerous to one's health than actually smoking a cigarette! This was because the filter on most cigarette actually abates some of the toxic chemicals that enter the system.



After this experience, I was very even more against smoking than I was before. I believe smoking is a one of the more dangerous health risks in the world today. Now, I realize that the US has a lot of other issues to deal with, regarding health, but maybe if they dedicate some time and effort into bringing more educational information about smoking into schools, the US' citizens will gradually grow old of their love for cigarettes. Now, if the world does this, maybe cigarettes can be gone for good. It's crazy to think that this will happen in the next fifty years, let alone the near future, but maybe eventually, this will become a smoke-free world.

-Henry Zhang

Terror in Colombia

I was shocked when I read this article, because it really reveals some of the horrors in this world. In Medellin, Colombia, there is constant gang violence and drug wars. In this particular article, there is an interview that involves two Hit-men, Red and C. There is much corruption in Columbia, and especially in Medellin, where even politicians are hiring Hit-men to rid their opponents.

According to the two men, Red and C, there is much chaos in their neighborhoods in Medellin, since authorities have locked up many gang lords so now there is a lot of chaos. Many drug wars have been fought and many people killed. Recently, in August, Samir Romero, someone who is apparently in these wars, was shot thirteen times. This caused a lot of grief for his relatives and you can see the anguish in the photos.



According to the interviews, the two Hit-men have the support of their neighborhood who they deliver food, probably provided by the drug lords of the area. They see it as a "kill or be killed" situation that is very hard to leave. They can either wind up in jail or end up dead in the streets. The authorities also have a huge problem catching all the drug lords, since more people will replace the jailed criminals. With Colombia's neighborhoods falling into poverty, more and more people are drawn into this chaos, and according to the C, one of the Hit-men, this chaos doesn't seem to have an end.

- Henry Zhang

Obama: Too Short of a Stay?

In New Orleans, most people are pretty happy with our president, Mr. Obama. “President’s doing a good job as far as I’m concerned,” Mr. Bienaime, 71, said. “And he ain’t even been there a year.” In fact, scheduled this Thursday is Obama's visit to the Gulf Coast. However, despite some of the praise for the new president, his visit terms to New Orleans was met with criticism.

Apparently, Obama is only going to stay in that state for a few hours, visiting a charter school and an university, then heading to our San Francisco for a fundraiser. So what's the problem? Well, many people think that this visit is definitely way too hasty and kind of contradictory of what the President previously had said.

The president is not visiting any areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, despite his attack on Bush for Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. Also, during his campaign, Obama visited the city of New Orleans five times. Some people, like a strong supporter Lawrence N. Powell, said“I know he’s got a lot going on, but I think this needed to be approached differently. You can’t multitask a world-historical tragedy.”

Other people like Nick Shapiro, White House speaker, says that all this criticism is not necessary since Obama is already doing some of the things that the people of New Orleans wanted and that this is not Obama's last visit to the region. Obama's administration is also setting up and doing projects that rebuild the Gulf Coast, set up more protection, etc. I personally do not think that all the criticism is that warranted, since Obama definetly will visit this region sometime soon and the administration is directing money and efforts toward rebuilding and aiding the Gulf Coast. However, I can understand how Obama's hasty visit appears to be contradictory of what he stated in his campaign. What do you guys think?

-Henry Zhang

"Burn the Snitch"

According to CNN, 5 juveniles were caught laughing an talking about setting 15 year old Michael Brewer on fire at an apartment complex on Tuesday. Michael received second-degree burns on the majority of his body. 3 of the juveniles were caught on a couple of hours after the incident and the other 2 were caught the next morning.

Police Sgt. Steve Feeley said "A couple of them last night were laughing about it," he said.

Apparently Michael owed one of the suspects $40 for a video game and never paid back for it. In retaliation, the youth stole his Michael's father's bicycle. Brewer sent in a claim that the bike was stolen and the suspect was sent to a detention center shortly afterward. The suspect however was released last Monday morning.

Gathering up his friends, the suspect got a group of four together who cornered Michael while he was waiting for his friends at their apartment.

Witnesses heard the suspect yelled, "He's a snitch, he's a snitch" and "pour it on him."

They doused Michael with what the police believed rubbing alcohol and threw a lit match at him. One witness rushed by to spray Michael with a fire extinguisher and Brewer shortly afterward dived into the complex's swimming pool. Brewer is expected to be hospitalized for around 5 months.

This purely vengeful crime to get back at a "snitch" is not new to me. I myself have been caught in an act of retaliation for warning my friend that his money was being stolen. Although I wasn't set set on fire, I did receive a pretty nasty kick to the back of my leg from the offender who, unfortunately, was never penalized for stealing and assault. Not being able to walk normally for a couple of days, it did affect me in the way in which I doubt I could "snitch" on others again.

Immigration and Deportation

According to the New York Times, thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill requesting immigration reforms. They are upset that amidst all of the other issues in America, the immigration issue is not drawing much attention. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois and chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus unveiled a new bill regarding immigration reform. The new bill basically states that illegal immigrants who come to the US for job opportunities and a better life will get a chance at citizenship, but those who come to disrupt neighborhoods will get no such opportunities.

This new bill is basically aimed at quelling the anguish of people who don't want to see a mother torn from her child. Many illegal immigrants come to the US to have a child, but I guess that doesn't make them citizens of the US, just the child. From that you can see where the tearing the mother from her child comes into play. Gutierrez's new bill is less restrictive than the previously proposed bill by Senator Schumer of New York who says that the reform needs to “curtail future illegal immigration,” and have “operational control of our borders” and a "“biometric-based employer verification system.”

There are always the sob stories like that of Peter Derezinski, whose father was deported back to Poland after 18 years of working in the US. Gutierrez's new proposed reform does sound reasonable. I mean if illegal immigrants just want a better life and an opportunity at a job in America, why not let them. However, his new proposal may seem a little simplistic as in there has to be other consequences of just letting all of these new illegal immigrants in. I would have to read to the full details of Gutierrez's bill before making an informed decision of whether I support the bill, but from the looks of it now, it does seem pretty reasonable.

-Henry Zhang

Anti-Semitism Makes a Comeback in Sutter Creek

In Sutter Creek, California, an really unfortuanate circumstance happened to Justin Zysman, a high school student at Amador High School. Zysman had filed legal papers against his high school district after it took over a year for the school officials to erase "Burn Jew, Burn" from Zysman's locker.

Zysman, the great-grandson of Holocaust survivors thought that some sick pranksters were just messing with him, but apparently they took the joke even further when his gym uniform was urinated on and some of his classmates were making Nazi salutes at him.

I am utterly shocked that it took Zysman's school district this long to erase the painful words on Zysman's locker. Obviously the Holocaust is a very sensitive issue for many people, especially Jewish people. Evidently, after a whole year, investigation is still going on and not much more information can be released, like the names of possible suspects.

Even after Zysman's parents filed legal documents, the school district's officials still said that they cannot act because of the ongoing investigation. I don't know much more than what was said in this article, but it seems like it is ridiculous that it took a year for those words to be removed. It seems to be that the school district is kind of indifferent to this hateful action.

I guess I was naive to think that at least in California, hate crimes/ actions were a thing of the past. Maybe we're lucky that at least our school district is somewhat sheltered.

-Henry Zhang

Biology For the Win: Woman with Half a Brain, Literally

One arm? No problem. No legs? Still Alive. One kidney? Hardly notice the difference? Half a brain? Yeah...kind of an issue there.

In Virginia lives an extraordinary woman by the name of Michelle Mack. What's so amazing about her? She has half a brain. Now all of you who have or haven't taken Biology, it usually takes one whole brain (100% physically of a brain) to survive...doesn't it? Apparently, Mack only has the right hemisphere of her brain.

Despite this "little" handicap, she still manages to do her household chores and maintain a steady job managing data for the church (I bet some full brained people can't even manage data). However, she does need some help and lives with her mom, which is granted since she is missing half of the most important organ in the body.

Now diving into the scientific aspect of this finding, Mack's right hemisphere has adapted to the situation by taking it upon itself to do some vital jobs of the left hemisphere, like speaking and reading. However, this caused the right hemisphere to lose some of its capacity as well, due to the extra jobs. Apparently, a lesion in Mack's brain at the time around her birth caused 95% of her left hemisphere to be missing.



Besides just keeping her alive, her rewiring also has allowed her to have an affinity towards remembering specific dates, which comes in handy with her church job. She specifically requested this article on CNN to be published to send out the message that she is normal. This definitely, goes under one of those inspirational stories and maybe "Ripley's Believe it or Not".

-Henry Zhang

Oh No! Kid gots a spoon!

According to the New York Times (and I saw this on yahoo news too), Zachary Christie, a six year old, was suspended from going to school in the Christina School District, Delaware, for bringing a camping utensil to school. Zachary had gotten a multi-tool from his boy scouts group and was excited to eat using said tool at school. Unfortunately, the tool is also a fork and a knife, which caused the boy to get suspended. His school district employs a zero tolerance policy on weapons.

However, where do you draw the line at zero tolerance? Apparently, Zachary's mom draws it far away from her son's action, since she feels it is absolutely ridiculous. Lawmakers are also scrambling on young Zachary's case, since they have been trying to make this zero tolerance policy dependent on a "case to case" basis. Last year, another girl was suspended since her grandma sent her to school with a knife, with the intent to KILL. Just kidding, it was for a cake that her grandmother made. Apparently the teacher had first used the knife to cut the cake, then called the principle to get this girl suspended (presumbly using one hand to fork a huge piece of cake and the other to complain to the principle about the tremendous danger of this generous girl).

Although this seems very unfair especially to our nation's very young people, it is not unjustified. Many incidences of school dangers have occurred very recently. Columbine, Virginia Tech and our very own Hillsdale High School. Although many people doubt that these small toddlers are insane and capable to bringing guns to school and shooting up the place, it is nevertheless, better to be safe than sorry.

However, I do think that a case to case basis should be considered, since it is really not fair to six year olds who probably do not even know of things like Columbine or Virginia Tech. Now, poor Zachary has to get home schooled, which may not be a bad thing, but is nevertheless missing his experiences of being a young student. If you want to help out Zachary, or find out more from his mother's side, click here.

Where do you draw the line?

-Henry Zhang

Enough is enough

"If the president should listen to McChrystal and adopt a troop "surge," the question remains: How many is enough?"

Currently the United States has around 48,000 troops in Afghanistan not including Iraq. General Stanley McChrystal plans to put 40000 more troops into the area to help keep things "under control."

But is there a point to all the troops going into Afghanistan? Will the 40,000 US troops make a difference in subduing the insurgencies going on?

The current state in Afghanistan has gotten to point where it is nearly a civil war. Although Kimberly Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War claims that the extra 40,000 troops may reduce the amount of violence in the country, I feel that adding the 40,000 may not help the overall of the war. Sooner or later, the US will have to pull out because our economy won't be able to support our troops there and the insurgents aren't just going to fall back and retreat just because we added in a more troops.

Just last week, eight more US soldiers were killed fighting hundreds of insurgents in the lower areas of the Nuristan province. If we add 40,000 more troops, what's stopping the insurgents from rallying up even more people to help "fight the US" off?

As Rep. Jim McGovern says, " We need to come up with a strategy that includes an exit strategy, because it'll also put pressure on the government of Afghanistan to step up to the plate, which it has not done so far."

Yet Another Post on North Korea: North Korea Testing its Limits

According to a news article by Yahoo, North Korea test-fired short range missiles today. If you're interest for the complete info, click this link. Now, this came as a surprise to the US and many of its allies, because North Korea launched these missiles right after it seemed like it was going to act more complacent.

This even surprised Russia, a country that usually is not too adamant a supporter of stopping North Korea (compared with the US, or Japan). A Russian foreign ministry source was quoted of saying "The launch of short-range missiles by the Korean People's Democratic Republic causes bewilderment." I'm guessing that this "testing of limits" by North Korea even surprised China, because just last week, the premier, Wen Jiabao visited North Korea, and N.K said that it was willing to go back to the negotiating table.

Clearly, North Korea is just trying to test the other countries and see what they will do. I think if the US and its allies really want to get the message through that N.K's actions are not okay, they should be more assertive. The US already sent an aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan. Still, I do not think that is enough.

North Korea right now is acting like a toddler (toddler with nukes that is). It keeps wanting to see what it can do before getting a scolding. Maybe the US and its allies should start giving out more than just "scoldings" and convince other countries to start sanctioning. About 75% of people already think that North Korea is at least somewhat of a threat to the US in terms of nuclear engagements, so I think the US should take initiative (since it is the big dog in the world right now) and kill the beast in its infancy.

Picture this:


PLUS
-Henry Zhang

Military strategy change approaching for Afghanistan

Ironically juxtaposed alongside President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, the American war in Afghanistan is going to be taking a turn in one of several directions in the coming week. General McChrystal has put forward several different requests, each with an increase in troop presence on the ground. New York Times article here.

What always displeases me is how the issue of military strategy, already convoluted, is so politicized. I haven't read or heard any coverage of the potential troop increase without seeing it paired with analysis of what this will do for President Obama's popularity or sway among Democrats.

We've discussed in class how American political campaigns are often candidate-centered, influenced by parties but that politicians can divorce from their party to an extent. But especially now, as Congress is polarized over a multitude of issues, the pulls from either side strengthen. There are always going to be strong reactions across the political spectrum to decisions made about war, but doesn't it seem wrong that it always goes straight to what it will mean politically for the president? That always seems to come first, rather than assessments of potential successes or problems that will come with the military change. When it is a matter of putting the lives of men and women on the line, in particular, I think that the party skirmishing is particularly shameful. I understand that war elicits the most passionate of debates, but too-often the feel I get from it is more like squabbling/jockeying.

swine flu is out to get you

We've all heard about the swine flu since it was first discovered in the spring of this year, but many of us have probably not realized the reality of it affecting people our age.

In a recent report, 76 children have already died from the H1N1 virus. Between 46 and 88 children die from the regular flu each year, but swine flu is about to cause these numbers to dramatically rise. There has been a total of 600 deaths, 9,000 hospitalizations, and now 37 states across the U.S. have wide spread cases of swine flu.

I don't mean to be he barer of bad news, but this is something that people our age need to pay close attention to. I think it's important for us to read all information possible and learn exactly what we can to help prevent the virus from attacking our precious immune systems. It is important that we get vaccinated and stay home from school if we don't feel well. Also, don't forget that hand sanitizer is your friend!

click here for a swine flu update

The stupendous legacy of Norman Borlaug

I mentioned Normal Borlaug in my last post and suddenly was consumed with the neeed to follow up about him. He was an agricultural scientist who worked for his entire life to improve strains of wheat and other staple crops in undeveloped countries to combat starvation.
This YouTube video from a TV show called "B.S.!" gives a great explanation of Norman Borlaug's life and works. The show is devoted to debunking myths, and the episode in which this clip aired is about those who advocate against genetically modified crops (in case you were wondering why they're making fun of those mask-clad dudes in front of the store). I hope you enjoy the clip; it's very well put together and incredibly inspiring. The man was passionate, innovative and brilliant. He leaves an enduring legacy in the world.

Advisory warning: clip contains swearing! Penn and Teller, the hosts of the show, are pretty vehement about what they discuss, which is often reflected in their language. Just don't want anybody to be shocked!

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President Obama

President Obama's reaction to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize today somehow made me think about Beyonce's reaction at the VMAs in September. As Kanye West launched into his now-infamous speech, the camera flashed to Beyonce, who was clearly flattered but taken completely off-guard. In a speech today, Obama said that he was honored but felt like he didn't belong amongst the many who have been revolutionary in order to garner the award (visit this article from the WSJ)... a fair analogy to Beyonce's utter confusion at the unsolicited compliment from West.

And indeed, the Nobel Peace Prize has over time gotten such acclaim because of its connection to those who are evoking change in remarkable ways. Though Obama is very much an emblem of change for America right now, his presidency is still early and was just beginning when he was nominated (New York Times summary article here).

Though not every year highlights a revolutionary, recent winners include former pres Jimmy Carter (2002), the group Doctors Without Borders (1999), Nelson Mandela (1993), Elie Wiesel (1986), Mother Teresa (1979) and Norman Borlaug (1970--if you don't know who Borlaug is, you should. A man credited with saving a billion lives through his agricultural pioneering research. Yes, billion with a "B." A personal hero of mine, who just passed away this past month). A full list here of winners.

What's going on here is that the Nobel Committee is diluting its credibility by allowing its actions to become politically motivated. The confused and even upset reactions are because for an award as esteemed as the Nobel Peace Prize, "a call to action" doesn't cut it. An admirable message, but one that detracts from the legitimacy of the cause.

Yo yo Nobel Peace Prize Committee, I like you, Ima let you finish, but I just gotta say that some of the other recent winners had the best accomplishments of all time. OF ALL TIME. Get it together, old dudes.

PS to Mr. Silton: Apparently Teddy Roosevelt's award was unrelated to the Spanish-American War; he got it for making a treaty between Russia and Japan. Guess his "Big Stick" diplomacy didn't hurt him there.

Symbolism of the white lab coat

I was reading this weekend about how the American Medical Association (AMA) is in talks about efforts against the white lab coats that many doctors wear to work. This entry in the Wall Street Journal's blog explains a bit of the reasoning behind why. Essentially, lab coat sleeves have been pointed to as a carrier of disease between patients, especially in hospitals. The WSJ report cites the CDC's finding that ~100,000 people died of hospital-contracted diseases in 2002. There has been no correlation between this gargantuan number and lab coats. However, the logic of those proposing to get rid of the coats is that if they increase risk of infection by even a minimal amount, they should be eliminated.

Meanwhile, those who fear the loss of the symbolism and respect carried by the lab coat are intent on seeing more research before taking action. Britain has already carried out a similar decision, as described in this BBC article from Sept. 2007.

These poor lab coats... subject to the great irony of representing professionalism and cleanliness but pointed to as carriers of disease. I draw a connection between these AMA talks and how recent presidential advocacy sessions for health care have been careful to have white coat-adorned doctors present, as discussed here. Of course, anybody can understand why the White House was so intent that the doctors were wearing lab coats--throughout the health care debate, doctors' opinions have been important in swaying public opinion, and doctors dressed in lab coats make for a much more direct image for the public than those in suits.

Images courtesy of ahrp.org and thethinkingblog.com.

Taliban claims they no longer pose a threat to the Western World

Ahhh I have found something worth blogging about. In recent news, the Afghan Taliban claim that they pose no threat to Western countries. I find this completely ridiculous because after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the bombings in Madrid on March 11th, 2004, I think that it is obvious that the Taliban does still pose a threat to Western countries. We have reason to believe that it is very possible that they could attack again, and I think that by saying they are no longer a threat, they are just waiting for Western countries to back down and become unprepared so that they can attack somewhere in the Western world again.

In a recent statement, the Taliban said, "the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for its refusal to hand over al Qaeda leaders, was hasty and unjustified" (Katyal). Excuse my language, but this is complete bullshit. Even though I would of course prefer to see the war end and I think that its commencement is long overdue, we went to war for a legitimate reason and that's because our country was attacked.

I just find it ridiculous that the Taliban is even making such statements when the majority of the world knows what they're capable of, and I would think that the majority of the world is in no way ready to trust that what they're saying is true.

If you'd like to read the article for more information, here it is. I'd like to read your feedback, so let me know what you think!

The sh*t that's considered news...

HAHAHAHA. So as I am looking around the internet from something interesting to blog about, I come across this video on the front page of Yahoo! Apparently some couple in Northern England is very angry that their wedding photographer/videographer did not capture their special day properly because in the majority of the photos, everyone's head is cut off or slightly cut off. Personally I think they should've hired a better photographer but maybe that's just me. I understand that they're upset, but does this really have to be front page news? I don't think so. Anyway, just thought this was amusing so i decided to share it with all of you. I am now going to look for some actual news to blog about..

The battle for legal medical pot a little closer to home

The issue of the legalization of marijuana generally buzzes in people's ears, present in the media but recently not rising to the forefront. This is especially the case from a national perspective, recently from which the the economy, foreign policy and now health care reform are in the hot seat.
This article, from yesterday's edition of the San Mateo Daily Journal, is a reminder that particularly in California many advocates' focus has not strayed from marijuana's social and economic role for the next decade.
As is often the case with legal weed, though, a ton of emphasis is placed on precautions to make the operation of the "collective" subtle. This is important for those who are mainly concerned about making medical use of the plant possible, as they know that the more grand the operation of collectives like this one is, the more likely a strong push-back will come soon from the other side.

What do you think? Will collectives like the one in SSF survive? Are they directly concerned with medical marijuana?... or do they reflect a more general trend of public opinion toward more individual choice and freedom?

Tax credit key to ending high unemployment rates?

I was trying to find a current event to blog about and I came across this very interesting article on nytimes.com. Apparently the government is debating about whether or not a tax credit should be given to companies who create new jobs. This is would be an updated version of a proposal created in 1977. I don't totally understand how this would work, but what I got from the article is that the policy created would make it cheaper for companies to hire more workers and that the government "would give employers a two-year tax credit if they increased the size of their workforce or added significant hours of working (for example, making a part-time worker full time.)

I personally think that this whole concept/idea/proposal would probably be a good idea, just as long as employers did not take advantage of it (a concerned expressed in the article). I think that if this policy could be pulled off then it would help the unemployment rate to go down, businesses to make more money, and for our economy to improve and not to be such crap. I am very sorry if I did a horrible job explaining this. I believe if you click on the title of this post it will take you to the article if you are interesting in reading it.

Developments in Iran nuclear talks

It feels like Iran, the United States and its allies are again playing a game of bluffing and testing each other. Iran is advancing a militaristic agenda, to what extent is a little murky, while America is trying to hold onto diplomatic pretenses while becoming increasingly vocal against Iranian nuclear development. Both entities move back and forth without relinquishing the key objectives.

Compounding this, too, is President Obama’s declaration of wanting to heal and make progress with our international relationship with Iran, which is obviously being pushed aside in not wanting to back down from demands.

My impression is that Iran is stalling for time and that the October 25 deadline for inspection is intended to appear as more of a concession than it is. It has certainly been that way in the past—Iran has done it and so has North Korea. Iran’s modus operandi is to seemingly meet certain United States demands while actually buying time. Meanwhile, the countries using whatever means of diplomatic pressure lose their common footing, allowing Iran to regroup and strengthen its position.

Some recent articles on the issue: Mideast: Iran Inspections (from the Council on Foreign Relations, the second post on that page)

And Congress poised to act swiftly on Iran if needed.

This article is only marginally related, but it struck me as pretty bizarre. Found it during some fact-checking research for this post: Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is secretly ... Jewish?.

Thanks for reading--What do you think about the United States stance on Iran's nuclear program? Do you think that as a country we should more aggressively pursue our goal? Or do you think we should back off at this juncture?

Why do TV shows linger beyond their expiration dates?

I was hoping for a miraculous turnaround, but the first two episodes of the new season of The Office have convinced me that the show has finally lost its charm. Being a die-hard fan since the beginning of the show’s second season, this is traumatic to admit, but it’s the unfortunate truth.

A lot of television, especially sitcoms, seems to keep coming back, round after round, when it feels to many viewers that the charm of the original show is lost. Yet, many stay devoted to the show, because it has the same characters and basic plot elements that made it interesting in the first place (Scrubs and Friends are two other shows that I think had this happen). I for one know that no matter how stilted the writing gets, I will always find Jim hilarious, Jim and Pam adorable together, and Michael Scott will always make me want to curl up into a ball when he says something awkward.

But I have finally given up, and am at that point when the painfulness of watching the writers'

search for new material outweighs my need for more of The Office. It’s interesting to me, because the American show came from a British version. The British version ended after two seasons of six episodes each—all of the content was punchy and funny, but a lot of plot elements weren’t tied together. I guess the pattern here is that the British like their shows punchy with short runs, while we Americans don’t like to let the shows go (from the producers’ end because they’re reliable money-makers, on the other because the audience is too sentimental to say goodbye to the characters). The best route is to remember The Office as it was at its peak, and of course hope that 30 Rock is bomb-diggity when it starts in a few weeks.

On the left is Ricky Gervais, the boss in the British original version of The Office, on the right is Steve Carell, of the American version.

Images courtesy of thefilmstage.com and beingamomisgreat.files.wordpress.com.

Dogs: the Superior Animal

I generally like cats, but dogs are far superior. Click here if you are interested in why.






vs.








P.S. I hope nobody get super-offended by this, it's not that serious. But I 100% agree with it :)

U.S. Official Bribed by Sudanese Government?

So if anyone read my earlier Darfur-related post, you know that a man named Gration is the special envoy to Sudan and has been taking a less-than-stern stance towards the Sudanese government. If you didn't read it...well, he is. Anyways, new light has been shed on the situation! This Washington Post article says that Gration and the U.S. National Security adviser, James L. Jones, met with the former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane (who earned a bad name for his role in Iran-Contra) to discuss Sudan policy. At a time when McFarlane appears to have been working for the Government of Sudan. Hmmm...

McFarlane was apparently contracted by the Sudanese government (for a salary of $410,400 channeled through Qatar) to lobby officials in the Obama administration to improve the relationship between the two. He "dismisses suggestions that he has done anything improper, saying he has adhered to U.S. restrictions while focusing on his work to unify feuding tribal leaders and help create jobs in Darfur". I'm not sure if McFarlane is acting on behalf of the Sudanese government or not, but it definitely appears that way from the article:

"What followed was a month-long exchange of e-mails and documents between McFarlane and Babiker (a Sudanese diplomat), culminating with McFarlane's contract with Qatar. Sudanese officials asked McFarlane to approach four former U.S. diplomats to ask whether they were interested in assisting in the effort; a proposed budget set aside $100,000 a month to pay them." Looks like a pretty obvious attempt by the Sudanese government to bribe U.S. officials for political support. Gration's plan to ease sanctions on the Khartoum regime seems to be an act that will support a corrupt government led by a convicted war-criminal.

Soda and cake.

I can no longer put an end to my gummy worm cravings during 2nd period for the following reason:
They aren't there anymore.

It looks like schools across the nation are following this trend of stacking vending machines with water instead of soda. It looks like in New York, Mayor Bloomberg is at it once again. I remember it was not too long ago when he wanted to enact a "fat tax" (taxing people extra on junk food).

I doubt that taking a few bags of chips and cookies out of the vending machine will solve this war on obesity that's so rampant America. Sure, it helps on some degree, but it's a small one. I think eating habits in kids are largely influenced by the parents, not the machines in school.



In response to the swine flu post:



-Phoebe Chao

Merit Based Pay for Teachers!!!

America is known to have a capitalistic economy (it is not 100% capitalistic on the spectrum, but when asked, we state that we have a capitalistic economy).


Most jobs will pay their employees according to if they do their job and they do it well. When it comes to public schools, teachers are paid based upon their years of experience and their qualifications. There is also this thing called "tenure" which after a certain number of years at the job (I believe it is three years), makes it very hard for the teacher to lose their job.

There are many pros and cons to merit based pay for teachers.
PROS:
-education will improve because MBP will weed out the teachers who don't achieve the results illustrated in their students test scores
-it will give teachers an incentive to keep working hard (it is a fact that many [not all] teachers burn out after teaching for so long and do not teach with the same enthusiasm when they first started.
-it rewards teachers who do an outstanding job teaching

CONS:
-many do not think MBP is fair because there will be obvious differences in the test scores of an Senior AP class than a freshman CP class
-it does not work for all subjects. Music and Special Ed are cases where it is hard to determine what has been accomplished through standardized tests.
-it is not fair for teachers to be "punished" if their students are just not good test takers

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1862444-1,00.html

I couldn't find an extremely current article about this, but this article from Time Magazine last year provides some pretty good insight on Michelle Rhee (the chancellor of education in Washington DC). Rhee supports the idea of merit based pay as means to improve education by weeding out the "bad" teachers and rewarding the "good" ones who get results illustrating the improvement of their students.

"Rhee wants to use that [improving test scores with a certain teacher] to decide who gets paid more--and, in combination with classroom evaluation, who keeps the job. But many teachers do not trust her to do this fairly, and the union bristles at the idea of giving up tenure, the exceptional job security that teachers enjoy."

One of the things that I found almost shocking when I first read this article almost a year ago was this interesting piece of data regarding having "good" teachers over "bad" ones:

"If two average 8-year-olds are assigned to different teachers, one who is strong and one who is weak, the children's lives can diverge in just a few years, according to research pioneered by Eric Hanushek at Stanford. The child with the effective teacher, the kind who ranks among the top 15% of all teachers, will be scoring well above grade level on standardized tests by the time she is 11. The other child will be a year and a half below grade level--and by then it will take a teacher who works with the child after school and on weekends to undo the compounded damage. In other words, the child will probably never catch up."

Now I must warn you, many people I've talked to at Aragon are very opposed to the idea of merit based pay because it does not seem like a fair system. Only the thing is, that is because people at Aragon immediately think of the teachers at Aragon and that it would not be fair for them to be penalized if the students don't meet the standards in our test scores. I think that many of us agree that our teachers are great, and I believe that the majority of teachers here would have no problem with us not meeting the test standards. The thing is that MBP will help education in parts of the country where teachers aren't as strong and in turn student education is sacrificed (I couldn't think of a less intense adjective...).

What do you guys think? Any arguments for MBP or why MBP should not be implemented?

NATO and US cause Civilian deaths

According to this article, NATO-led forces targeting militants in a compound two days ago ended up killing 11 civilians. No Taliban militants were killed. I would hope that this kind of thing is the exception, but it's really not. In 2008 an air strike on a wedding party killed 47 civilians, including 30 children, and an American-led operation killed at least 90 civilians, 60 of them children (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27816&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=). Those were just the strongly publicized. The Human Rights Watch graph below shows how these mistakes tally up.
In 2009, "civilian deaths have risen in recent months...about 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to August...the United Nations said civilian deaths jumped more than 20 percent this year compared with last year...a significant number of civilians were killed by airstrikes conducted by U.S. and NATO forces" (from a U.N. report).

I hear all about governments across the world killing their civilians and think, "wow, that's really horrible". Sometimes I think "I'm glad our government isn't like that". But...is it? Maybe, just not in our country. These deaths aren't the necessary result of strategic military maneuvres, they are the result of hasty, poorly planned and executed air raids on Afghan villages. Our military isn't intentionally killing civilians (at least, I really hope not), but the lack of planning shows how little they care about innocent people in another country.

With all that the big-book-of-fun has been telling us about increasing voter participation in politics, I think this raises the question: how far down does responsibility go? Does it stop at the people who made the plans for the air strike, or the people who gave the ok to make the plan? Is it the fault of the people who voted for the people who gave the ok to plan? The people who don't protest outside civic center every day (us...)?

How did the pig get on the roof? THE SWINE FLU

A couple of weeks ago at an Aragon PTSO meeting, there was a doctor who gave a little spiel about how Swine Flu a.k.a H1N1 flu is on the rise again. She also said that it was targeting the young [We teenagers being "the young"]. She stressed that vaccines are now available, and I recall something about a limited supply, which is why she encouraged parents to get their kids vaccinated if possible.

Then I found this article today illustrating how difficult and challenging it is to get the vaccines out to the people. This frantic rush to get people vaccinated makes it seem more dangerous just because there is a frantic rush to get vaccinated.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-10-01-swine-flu-vaccine_N.htm?csp=34

"State health departments have to organize thousands of workers at 90,000 sites nationwide to administer as many as 250 million doses in three to four months, making sure the people at greatest risk from swine flu — such as pregnant women, young children and health care workers — are first in line"


Swine flu actually doesn't seem as bad as everyone makes it out to be, only "one in 100 healthy people with swine flu will end up in an intensive care unit on a respirator." That's a 99% that if you're healthy you won't die from it.

...knock on wood

Birth Right Citizenship > Illegal Immigration ?

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/142694/arguments_against_%22birth_right%22_citizenship_run_against_constitutional_principles/

We've all heard at some point how impossible it can be for many illegal immigrants to get their green card. We also know that illegal immigration laws don't stop a huge amount of immigrants from coming and residing in the country. If these individuals have children during their time in the United States however, the children automatically become U.S. citizens.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside"

The article share that many bills have been introduced to Congress with the intention of revoking Birth Right Citizenship to those whose parents are in the country illegally. However because "the Citizenship Clause provides Birth Right Citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil regardless of the immigration status of their parents", then revoking this would seem unconstitutional.

What do you guys think about this? Should people get Birth Right Citizenship if their parents are in the country illegally? Technically it's not their fault and no one gets to decide where they are born; so does that mean they should they be denied citizenship?

Organic Lies!

I am shocked and appalled. My world with its Trader Joe's label-infested kitchen just came crashing down.

According to this article, the UK Government's Food Standard Agency conducted a study that showed Organic foods aren't any better for you nutritionally than their normal brothers and sisters. I feel so decieved by advertisements right now.

The 12-month review, commissioned by the FSA in 2009 and carried out at the London School of Hygiene and Medicine, was based on 50 year's worth of collected evidence and concluded that "there is no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health in relation to nutrient content." British people are obviously more suspicious of organic foods, and apparently for good reason.

Oh vell, organic fruit still tastes better. And is better for the environment. And animals. Animals have feelings too.

I scoff at these delicious berries full of lies.










-Liza Brownstone

The American Image, According to Robert Frank

Being a big fan of art in general, I tend to spend a great deal of my time in that section of libraries when I have the chance. Back in the good old days of 2007, I picked up a grainy little book called "The Americans". And it was then my love for Robert Frank was born.

Frank was delivered out into the world in 1924, in the city Zurich. He moved to New York City in 1947.

Frank's perspective of American changed, he saw the place as an empty and too concentrated on money and power. This view is often illustrated in his photographs.

He's been referred to as a kind of a Alexis de Tocqueville.



His book shows American in the mid 50's. The majority of the subjects in his book look pensive.

I liked it a lot, and maybe you will too.

For anyone remotely interested, another one of my favorite photographers is Philip-Lorca diCorcia. He's an American photographer from the East Coast that's been around since the 1970's. He's teaching at Yale.

-Phoebe Chao

Personal Legend

It's going to be a late night, and I'm feeling thoughtful. These are quotes from my most favorite book of all time: The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. It's about a Spanish shepherd boy. It is epic. A book rarely applies to my life like this one, and I hope these quotes offer guidance and such as they did for me.

"It’s [your Personal Legend] what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend."

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

"When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision".

"Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place".



My Personal Legend: being a veterinarian. Who travels through space! Everything seemed a lot simpler when I was younger. College=choices, and I think it's important to remember to follow your intuition with so many people influencing us to do this, and look into that.

Herb.

"My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.

Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.

If you don't like my fire, then don't come around,
'cause I'm gonna burn one down.
Yes, I'm gonna burn one down.

Herb the gift from the earth,
And what's from the earth is of the greatest worth.
So before you knock it try it first,
Oh, you'll see it's a blessing and not a curse."
- Ben Harper

Should marijuana be a choice, like eating oreos? It's a prevalent issue in California, and, in all honesty, Aragon is definitely no exception. I think it's interesting how some people are so dead-set against marijuana, and others really couldn't care less if they or their friends smoke. Opine away.

Is school stressful?

I've been reading about how much pressure students are facing when it comes to school/education these past few decades and found some things I think are worth sharing:

http://www.helium.com/knowledge/32156-testimonies-theres-too-much-pressure-on-teens

http://www.greatschools.net/parenting/stress-management/stressed-out-kids.gs?content=645&page=all

The last link is a website for parents but I thought article was incredibly accurate when describing school nowadays.

"One recent study from the Stanford School of Medicine indicates that the number of children, ages 7-17, treated for depression more than doubled between 1995 and 2001."
The article states that this is a repercussion because more kids are stressed out.

It doesn't seem like there are any ways to avoid this highly competitive realm if we want to succeed. It seems like there are a thousand people waiting to take your spot. It's like running a race, the second you slow down there is someone there to pass you by and move you further back.

(that last paragraph was awkwardly worded...)

Health care, international style.

So if you've ever talked to me about health care in Switzerland, you've probably seen me nod my head a little and smile. Well, it's time to come clean... I can't be living a lie anymore. Forgive me.
Fact: I had absolutely no idea about the health care system in Switzerland...that is, until now!

For those in the same position as I was, here's the general gist:
1. In Switzerland, health insurance is compulsory. The government provides the $$$ for those who cannot afford it.
2. There is ONE price, no matter what your income.
3. Their health care is based on individual choice. "individuals — not employers or the government — choose from a broad array of health plans, sold by private insurance companies."
Now you can nod and smile unpretentiously....

From reading the article (link posted above), Switzerland's system is interesting. I mean, the statistics, seen on the graphs to the left, seem pretty appealing. Many Swiss citizens are happy, and the only complaint is the cost. However, it seems like ultimately they still pay less than we do here in America. So let's just adopt the health care system straight from the Swiss! Win, win situation? Everyone is happy? If only it was that easy.







Interesting note:
When I was staying in Taiwan, all I had to do was walk into a hospital like it was a Safeway. Clinics are open all day until 9pm or even 10pm. (Yes, even on weekends.)
Everyone has to bring a card when seeing a doctor. The doctor would then scan the card on a computer and the patient's history and medications all show up a screen. No paperwork!

-Phoebe Chao

"I'm an American too, Damnit!"

***THE FOLLOWING IS NOT WRITTEN BY ME****
"What does it mean to be a real patriotic American? Nothing aggravates me more than the stereotypical Middle American patriot. You know the kind, the flag-waving, “support our troops” types. The soccer moms who boycott French wine with one hand and drive SUVs that guzzle Saudi oil with the other. Or maybe it’s the corporate American “red stater,” who uses his connections to get his boy into Texas Tech and sees absolutely nothing wrong with sending Hakim from Crenshaw off to die like a dog in the desert. I have been called “anti-American” by these “patriots” on multiple occasions.

Recently, I signed a delayed enlistment contract with the United States Marine Corps. This was the culmination of about six months of diet and exercise that would allow me to pass the physical tests required to even go to basic training. No more than two weeks after I receive my high school diploma, I shall be on the bus headed for boot camp. Why am I doing this? I love my country. Not the president, not the government, but the idea of the United States and the values I have come to equate with it: equality, social justice, and tolerance.

Do any of these “real Americans” have the cojones to do what I have? I think George W. Bush is the worst president I will ever see in my lifetime, and the Iraq War is the most flagrant misuse of governmental power that I have witnessed in my young life, but still, I shall go. My home is decent, my school is good, and my family could pretty easily afford to send me to college. I owe my country something for being so fortunate, but more for those less fortunate than I. For the poor son of a Nebraska farmer dodging bullets for the GI Bill, for the Mexican immigrant chasing the American dream who must sign up or starve, for the patriotic homosexual who is denied the chance to even serve because his country tells him that he is a second-class citizen, those are the people for whom I fight.

The people who say “one nation under god” need to be taught a lesson. They need to see that atheists can be in foxholes. I have no designs on finding Jesus in some hope-forsaken Iraqi slum. I shall show them by example. This left-wing libertarian pseudo-intellectual has more bravery in him than all the beer-guzzling, date-raping, all-American, pray-every-day football players combined.

Support the troops indeed! I do wonder if these Middle American patriots will continue to support me when they find out what I support. But ultimately that doesn’t matter, because I am still willing to fight and perhaps die on their behalf, whether they appreciate it or not, and that is what being a patriotic American means to me."


This is an essay by then 17-year-old Bill Kephart. I wanted to share it because, for one, this guy can write way better than I can. Additionally, this essay asks a good question in it's first line. What does it mean to be a real patriotic American? Or, to reshape the question a bit, what does being American mean to you?
Baseball and apple pie? Playground diplomacy? Freedom? Inept government? Opportunity?

As a result of past events, a majority of the world criticizes Americans, specifically U.S. policy and American leaders. Sometimes it's kind of embarrassing to hear a story about your friend traveling in Europe and having to purposely wear a Canadian flag on him at all times to avoid being harassed.

For me, the simplest, un-Bill-Kephartic answer I can provide is that being American means that I have access to many underappreciated advantages.

-Phoebe Chao

P.S: your opinions on Kephart's piece are fun to read! So tell me what you think.

Dear Prospective College Student...

Planning on applying to any UCs or CSUs?

-Remember the UC college application workshop is tomorrow morning in the library and the CSU one is next week.

-Remember that the UC and CSU systems are recieving less money from the state because of the economic crisis.

-Remember that the UC and CSU systems now have to face these state budget cuts

-Remember as a result of buget cuts colleges may reduce the number of classes they offer or the number of faculty they keep on the payroll

-Remember that many college students are not graduating on time because they cannot get into the classes they need to graduate

-Remember that now colleges are hiking up the cost of tuition and going after the higher paying out of state student instead of the taxpaying California student to compensate for the state budget cuts


College is getting harder to get into more now than ever. The financial crisis is not helping either. Good Luck!

Sincerly,
Reality

Gold Stars and Smileys for Human-Rights Criminals?

So there's a genocide in Darfur right now that's been going on for 6 years. I'm not saying anyone reading this doesn't know about it, it's just surprising how many people don't. If you want to know more, go here: http://www.genocideintervention.net/educate/darfur (I don't know how to do the embedded link thing).

Anyways, an article just came out about what the Special U.S. Envoy to Sudan (Scott Gration) has been up to in the past 6 months. The fact that Obama even appointed an envoy is a good thing, since before this the U.S. government has taken...basically zero real action to end the genocide. U.S. diplomacy in Darfur, the only country whose president is a convicted human-rights criminal, is almost entirely in the hands of Gration. But Gration may not be taking the right approach. He's definitely leaning towards appeasement: his belief is that, "We've got to think about giving out cookies...kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

Agreements and talks are often the best approach for conflicts within countries. I don't like meeting violence with violence, and I'm usually all for peace talks. But Gration is dealing with a genocide, and numerous people have told him that the Sudanese government is decieving him in their promises for working towards a settlement. And just the way he phrased that quote is kind of...weird. In general, war-torn countries shouldn't be simplified to "kids". And I bet Bashir and his administration won't apreciate being acredited the mentality of a child who responds to smileys and cookies. Yet there is also the risk that a more agressive approach would only alienate the Sudanese government and make peace impossible. I'm interested in anyone's opinion on this: is appeasement or force better for making an uncooperative government respect human rights?

-Liza Brownstone

Wait, where is that again?

Last Friday, Mr. Silton was talking about how a few years ago numerous Aragon students organized a "Walk Out" to protest the War in Iraq (At least that's what I remembered it to be). Well, not surprisingly, most students equated "protesting" with "burger eating."
When the next day rolled around, many students expected an excused absences for their worthy cause. The answer? No.
A question was raised, asking, "Why should the students get excused when more than half of them probably can't even point out the Middle East on a map?"

Which reminded me of THIS.

And, being the jumpy person I am, this all brings me to:

Remember the Tibet controversy? I was watching the news one day and a reporter went around the streets of San Francisco during a protest with only two things in his hand: A map of China and a microphone.
He then proceeded to ask everyone at the protest to point out where Tibet was on the map.
In fact, after some Youtube searching, I found the video of it.

I find both the walk-out Aragon students and the interviewed protesters in San Francisco to be kind of hilarious (but not the burger eating part though). I think the protesters should have done a little more homework on their part. I mean, really? To make some kind analogy, that's just like an Obama fanatic thinking Obama was born in Kenya. It makes you doubt how much that person really knows about the president.

Does the location of the place even matter? Is it really just enough to know the issues? How much does it take to be a qualified protester? What are some thoughts? I'm curious.


-Phoebe Chao

De-Jong-Vu?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/world/middleeast/29tehran.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Towards the end of last semester North Korea's missile launch was in the news quite a bit. In case you are not very familiar with it, here is the basic idea: North Korea tested a missile that they claimed was for carrying a communications satellite, however many countries speculate that they intend for it to carry nuclear war heads. North Korea claims the test was successful however other countries including the U.S. have reason to believe it failed and fell into the sea.

In the past few decades, North Korea has become a hot spot when it comes to nuclear energy/arms/threats. The U.S. first helped North Korea develop nuclear energy (as means of safe clean energy) under the Clinton Administration. North Korea made it pretty obvious that they had developed nuclear arms, especially when they withdrew from the Non-Proliferations Treaty. [SIDENOTE: under the Bush administration, Bush referred to North Korea as among "the axis of evil" which also included Iran]

The reason I brought up North Korea was that when I was reading the article about Iran(link at the top), it reminded me of North Korea. North Korea is now a nuclear threat, even though the country's nuclear technology was initially intended for (non-threatening) energy purposes. There is no way to know if Iran would develop nuclear arms if they had nuclear energy. Not to mention, a while back Ahmadinejad (Iran's President) said something to the effect of Iran wanting to "wipe Israel off the map." [Because it was translated those were not his exact words but that is the general idea]. Would it really be a good idea for Iran to develop nuclear energy when they have made statements such as that?

Do countries have the right to develop nuclear power as a source of clean energy, when it so often leads to nuclear threats?

Team Miku

While you may not have heard of Hatsune Miku, you've most likely heard one of her songs. She is a voice synthesizer program created by Crypton Future Media using Yamaha's Vocaloid2 technology to create songs. She is probably the greatest computer program ever made, showing how far technological advancements have come, thanks to Japan. The world is becoming a better place, where even average people can become pop stars. Hundreds of people have become amateur artists, creating songs rivaling and sometimes even exceeding the quality of many "professional" artists. On the popular Japanese video sharing site, Nico Nico Douga, there are thousands of songs and music videos created with Hatsune Miku from metal,to pop and techno. Over iTunes, many of these amateurs have sold hundreds thousands of copies of their songs and are spreading the culture over to the West.

We at Team Miku wish to help spread the word about the greatest program of all time. Join us at our blog, or join our Facebook group under "Team Miku."

Team Miku Awww Yeah

-Weilu Jia

Obama wants to shorten summer vacation

In most Asian countries (India, China, Taiwan, Japan, etc), students spend more days in school. They also "persistently outscore the U.S. [students] on math and science tests."

Obama's perspective: "Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe." He wants to extend school days until dinnertime and extend the school year.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan agrees. "Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Duncan stated.

This got me thinking. Many of the students at Aragon either work, play a sport, or do some other sort of activity of hobby outside of school. Personally, I'm involved in a few activities that take up most of my time, with homework fitting in when I get free time. Year round, I'm involved with a coneoing team, Bay Area Dragons (BAD), which competes locally, nationally, and internationally. It takes up 3 days of my week, plus extra effort outside team time. Also, I'm involved with the Aragon Robotics Team, which you may be familiar with. We compete in the FIRST Robotics Challenge at the Silicon Vally Regional (held at San Jose State Univeristy) in the spring, and the WRRF CalGames in the fall. It also takes up alot of time away from school. In the fall, we meet twice a week after school till 5, and in the spring, the team stays at school till 7 four days a week, eating dinner together for six weeks, until mid-febuary. We also spend time at school on the weekends if needed.

If Obama is able to get his way and extend school days, most of these activities students participate in these days will either get cut back or get canceled. Students wouldn't be able to have extra time in the school day to themselves.

Oh, and what about all the extra hours of labor? Teacher's aren't going to work extra for free, right?

What do you guys think on this? Some students like the extended year program so far, being able to learn a lot more information. I would like to hear your opinions on this topic.

Armaan Vachani

Flooding in the Philippines

The tropical storm Ketsana hit the capitol of Manila on Saturday, and I feel like this is turning into a rerun of Katrina. Right now hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into hundreds of makeshift evacuation centers where, "food, medicine and other relief supplies are in dire shortage". The Philippine government is facing a huge humanitarian crisis, and has been slow to respond. Officials in charge of the centers are saying they are simply unable to cope, and don't know for how much longer they can sustain the centers.

I think that unless the international community responds to the government's appeal for help, and responds fast, the situation will deteriorate quickly. Looting and general anarchy probably aren't too far off in these centers, and I really hope the refugees get the supplies they need. I also hope the international community shows that we still support each other in times of crisis, and steps up to give the necessary aid.

And does this have a connection to global warming? I think most definitely (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=1405). It's unseasonably hot here (not that I'm unhappy about that), and there's crazy weather all over the world. Luckily, it looks like Obama wants the US and China (the two biggest GHG emmitters in the world) to work together for climate change in some upcoming talks. So at least there's some good news.

-Liza Brownstone

Afghanistan...

Bob Woodward reported that President Obama has scheduled five extensive meetings with the NSC (National Security Council) and field commanders to rethink and reexamine their Afghanistan strategy over the next couple weeks. These meetings follow closely on the heels of a 66 page report from his commanding general, recommending that we execute a “surge” of troops, and vamp-up counterinsurgency tactics.

I am hesitant to support a surge in Afghanistan for several reasons that I feel should be pretty obvious.

1) We are already really in debt, and further action in Afghanistan would significantly add to the deficit, more than the proposed health care bill ever would.
2) We have had troops on the ground there for 8 years, and have been fighting two wars in the region for 6. Thousands of our soldiers have been killed, not to mention countless civilians.

However, there are also some very compelling reasons for staying. Among these is the fact that we do not want Afghanistan to turn back into the cesspool that it was--and for the most part still is--before we were attacked back in 2001. Furthermore, in addition to our national security interests, some would argue that we have a moral responsibility to help Afghanistan. We spent $1 billion pouring weaponry into Afghanistan in the early 80’s, and afterwards did nothing to help them build schools or infrastructure. We turned a country filled with tribal violence into a heavily-armed country of tribal violence and then washed our hands of the whole thing! Whatever we do, we need to make sure that when we leave Afghanistan, terrorist training camps don’t spring up in our place.

-Riley G.

Job openings still declining

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/economy/27jobs.html

Over the last year, we've all gone back to our daily lives and most of us probably think the economy is getting better, and it is. However, the job market isn't. Job openings are still decreasing and the unemployed are still rising, though layoffs have slowed down. According to Thomas A. Kochan, a labor economist at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management. “There’s too much uncertainty out there, There’s not going to be an upsurge in job openings for quite a while, not until employers feel confident the economy is really growing.”

But how do we know the economy is "really growing". The less jobs everyone has, the less they will spend, and the less money companies make to give out paychecks. It's understandable that companies don't want to risk the economy dropping again and lose money from hiring people, but at times like these, the companies are the ones holding the economy back. 

-Weilu Jia

Goodbye Guantanamo

Goodbye Guantanamo, We Knew You Too Well

Almost everyone who has paid any attention to any sort of politics whatsoever in the last eight years has heard of the dreaded detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since late 2001, when prisoners from the war in Afghanistan began being brought there, the prison has been plagued by one scandal after another. The controversial technique known as water boarding, a technique now deemed an act of torture by the U.S. government, was only one of the many scandals that the detention center was involved in. Upon his inauguration, however, President Obama signed an executive order, stating that the prison was to be completely shut down in one year.

Nine months into his term, President Obama and his staff are finding that closing the Guantanamo Detention Center is going to be much harder than originally believed. Of the many challenges involved in closing Guantanamo, the questions of where the prisoners are going to go is the greatest issue. While the administration originally planned on moving prisoners onto American soil, they are finding that most prisons are very unwilling to house them. According to the Washington Post, the White House needs to find “50 to 60 facilities to house prisoners who cannot be released and who cannot be tried because of legal impediments” which will not be easy.

Unfortunately for the President, time is running out to keep his promise to the American public. Back in January, when he first took office, Obama promised to have the Center closed by next year. Now, in late September, Obama Administration officials are starting to say they’re going to be hard-pressed to keep that promise to the people. Oh well. Thanks to the past eight years, the American public is used to the executive branch breaking its promises. Politics as usual in Washington, D.C.

-Riley G.