North Korea to Test Long Range Rocket

North Korea has recently unveiled its newest endeavor – a new, long range rocket, capable of putting a satellite in space.  In a show of pride, and perhaps arrogance, North Korea’s leader, “Supreme Commander Kim Jong-un” has opened his nation’s borders further than ever before, and has permitted U.S. Journalists to come view the rocket themselves.

This news obviously has come to worry many nations, the U.S. included.  With North Korea now in possession of long range rockets, the threat of an intercontinental nuclear strike has been realized.  North Korea however, continues to claim the rocket is merely for scientific purposes, and nothing more.

The greatest concern right now however, is should the rocket experience a massive failure, where it would land.  Should the rocket fail above China, falling debris into heavily populated urban centers would lead to massive causalities.

What are your thoughts concerning North Korea’s new missile? Are the claims of innocence to be trusted, or should the U.N. draw tighter sanctions on North Korea?  Furthermore, should the U.S. becoming involved?

Google Launches Project Glass

Google, the tech industry super-giant, unveiled its newest creation, dubbed “Project Glass” – augmented reality glasses that will allow the individual to do away with other portable devices.  These glasses will take the place of all of your other devices – cell phone, iPod – and bring the information straight before your eyes.  The official video revealed such features as Google Maps, a Facebook App, and speech-to-text recognition.  Watch here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4

It has also been leaked that the glasses will go for anywhere between $250 and $600. 

What do you guys think of Google’s newest project? Are these glasses going to be practical, or just an expensive futuristic Bluetooth? Will fashion trump function, and these glasses get kicked to the curb?

Women Are Not an Interest Group

On Friday, Obama addressed the Women’s Economic Forum, speaking on current gender discrimination within America, as well as the upcoming election.  The president noted “The conversation has been oversimplified….Women are not some monolithic bloc…an interest group.” With the continued controversy surrounding abortion rights, and the newest issues concerning contraceptives under health care reform acts, the Democratic Party has been pushing hard to frame the GOP on such issues, noting how the party is one that would deny women these rights.  In fact, recent Gallup polls show the president leading Romney, the GOP likely nominee, by as much as 18 percentage points.  Republican consultant, Matt Mackowiak, commented "You can't lose women by 18 points.  You are going to get slaughtered." 

This speech and others like it sparked retaliation from Romney and the GOP, arguing that the left has forged a narrative and spun the nation into believing that the right is launching a “war on women”, in light of their stances surrounding contraceptives.  Conservatives everywhere criticism Obama for requiring religious institutions to provide contraceptive coverage in health care plans, which would violate certain religious doctrines.  Ultimately though, GOP stances on such hot issues are clearly having a disastrous effect, with women everywhere changing their votes, if not their party allegiances entirely.

How do you think Romney plans to combat this widening gender gap?  Are his arguments against the Democratic Party valid, or merely the words of a wounded pride, being so far behind in polling?

Promoting Start-Up Investments

Obama, in a continued attempt to revive the job market, signed a bill Thursday that rolls back restrictions on how new start-up companies may raise initial capital.  The bill, part of Obama’s larger Jobs bill, allows for individuals to make small investments in entrepreneurs via the internet.  Obama endorsed the bipartisan bill, citing how “new businesses generate almost every new job in the United States”.

Critics of the bill claim that the law will “open the door to investor fraud”; in response, Obama insisted that the SEC would provide overriding regulation of such web sites, and that information availability in our current day makes fraudulent schemes unlikely.
 

The bill has more serious political implications however.  With the formal signing set to coincide with the monthly employment report from the Labor department, which has become “an important political barometer”, Obama hopes to make the most of a positive upward trend in the job market.  If the numbers return strong, Obama will only strengthen his reelection chances.

What do you think? Is this a sound political move for Obama and his reelection campaign, or is it simply too little too late, with the rest of Obama’s Jobs bill still floundering in Congress?

Cited NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/us/politics/obama-signs-bill-to-ease-investing-in-start-ups.html?ref=politics

Other than Honorable

Nine year veteran marine Gary Stein, with only four months remaining in his tour, is facing serious consequences for his most recent political outbursts via Facebook.  Stein, a self described conservative, “hell bent on defending the constitution and preserving America’s greatness”, has had a history of criticism of Obama, with multiple Facebook postings slandering the president; he has even gone so far as to photoshop Obama’s face over a poster of “Jackass: The Movie”.  The final straw came when Stein posted to a Facebook group that he would refuse to follow Obama’s orders; only later did he clarify his statement, explaining that he meant only unlawful orders.

Stein is being charged with violating a Pentagon policy which limits the political activities of service members, including “contemptuous words against senior officials”, and in this case, the Commander-In-Chief.  Stein’s attorney is in turn arguing that service members who present their political views may do so as long as they do not claim endorsement by the military, and therefore, do not violate the Pentagon policy.

The Marine Corps administrative board, following an extensive hearing for the sergeant, has recommended that the 26 year old Stein be given an “other than honorable discharge”; if the recommendation is accepted, Stein will be demoted, discharged, and will lose all his benefits. 
I feel that Stein’s punishment is extreme, and that while his criticism of our president is both rude and flawed, he does have every right to make said statements.  What do you think of Stein’s situation? Is he within his first amendment rights, or does the military have jurisdiction to exercise their policy in preventing political commentary from its service members?

U.S. Navy Jet Crashes in Virginia

 U.S. Navy Jet Crashes in Virginia
On Friday, April 6^th, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet jet crashed into a Virginia Beach apartment complex after taking off from US Naval Air station Oceana.  Amazingly, there were no casualties from the incident, with all residents and both pilots accounted for. 

The Navy is proclaiming the cause of the accident to be a “catastrophic mechanical malfunction” that occurred during takeoff that Friday morning.  The flight pattern and ejection seats indicate that the pilots remained with the plane for as long as possible, in the hopes of minimizing damage.  Before crashing, the jet released most of its fuel, spilling out over Virgina’s streets and houses.  Whether this was the intention of the pilots, or merely part of the catastrophic failure, the act minimized what could have become a massive fireball in one of Virginia’s most populous cities.

Although destruction was minimal, this is the third F-18 Hornet crash this year; in February, an F-18 crashed in Bahrain, only two days after another F-18 went down during a training flight in Nevada.  The Navy suffered two more incidents in August 2011, with various mechanical malfunctions occurring through 2006 to 2008.  The F-18 is used primarily for training, and new pilots are almost always accompanied by an experienced instructor.

What do you guys think of this spree of crashes?  Is this the fault of an inattentive military, or is it unrealistic to not expect such crashes, what with such young pilots being put in the cockpit of such incredibly complex machines?

The link to the CNN article is in the title, some pretty amazing photos were captured of the crash.