As Arctic refuge turns 50, some want drilling ban

On Monday the Arctic National Wildlife refuge will celebrate its 50th anniversary and President Obama is being urged to bestow it with national monument status to prevent it from being drilled for oil. There currently is eleven billion barrels of oil under the beautiful land but this status would block oil companies from ever harvesting it. Members of congress, scientist, and businesses are pressuring the president to put an end to the fight to extract the oil and bestow this great honor. However, all people are not for blocking the oil companies from the rich good, including Alaskans who say the oil is vital to the future energy needs of the United States. This is a great example of the problems the energy issue cause.
-Will Kalish
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40509239/ns/us_news-environment/#

Terrorism makes NYC more wary, gradually

This article depicts the changes New York City has gone through since the 9/11 attacks. Since then New York has taken numerous steps to prevent terrorism. Most people would say that this is a great thing; however, it has been taken way too far. There are now cameras all over the entire city watching citizens at every minute of the day which is an obvious violation of the citizen’s privacy. Also, police are on every corner and occasionally search people’s bags randomly. Now it is important to protect the people, but all of these precautions are making life in the city miserable not only for its current residents but tourists as well, who are not allowed to see attractions which used to be popular.
-Will Kalish
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40509559/ns/us_news-security/#

Obama makes surprise trip to Afghanistan

The primary focus of the president's trip is to meet with and thank U.S. troops. He also will do a secure videoconference meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, after a planned trip to the palace in Kabul as part of the visit was canceled due to bad weather. The new strategy announced last December authorized 30,000 additional troops to be brought in during 2010 to step up the fight. Most of the added forces were in place by October, increasing the U.S. contingent to about 95,000. They are supplemented by 48,000 military personnel from 47 other nations in the coalition, led by NATO.

Post by: Ziying Yuan

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-1204-obama-afghanistan-20101203, 0,7077667.story

Wikileaks

It's been a long and restless past few days for the United States a well as significant others including: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and many European countries all due to one man, Julian Assange. Assange recently leaked 220 confidential cables that were never meant for public eyes and gave away secret relations between countries that could potentially jeopardize national security. The United States recently debated whether or not Assange should be tried and prosecuted for espionage or terrorist activities but it seems Interpol beat them to it. Assange claims that he is just the publisher not the "leaker" and should not face penalties under the 1st amendment. Assange's mother desperately pleads for her son's safety, now realizing how many powerful enemies Assange has made with his recent publication of confidential information. Assange calls himself a crusading reporter but is that what he really is? I personally believe he should be prosecuted because even though he hasn't released any Top Secret files YET, Assange did release information that is destroying relationships between once friendly nations and publishing national security secrets that show the way certain organizations operate.


Sam Lanfear
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/01/3081532.htm

Higher Taxes, Budget Cuts Needed to Reduce Deficit

Higher Taxes to Reduce Deficit

A majority of Americans believe taxes will have to be raised and government services will have to be reduced in order to cut the federal deficit. President Obama on Monday announced a plan to freeze the pay of government workers in order to save as much as $60 billion over the next decade. The CNBC poll said that 54% of Americans believe that taxes will be raised in order to lower the federal deficit. “Most poll respondents (54 percent) say changes made to close the deficit should be evenly distributed among all Americans-a shared burden with shared sacrifices and shared costs. But, more than a third (38 percent) say the changes should be targeted to impact the wealthy. Only six percent say the changes should focus on low-income citizens.”

            This is unfortunate news for us graduating from college in the next few years. Most likely all of us will fall into one of the higher tax brackets. The tax expenditures proposed are taking money away from us before we ever start to work As young adults we have mostly relied on our parents for financial support. Everyday we see new taxes being created which is going to heavily lower our income.

Senate Passes Overhaul of Food Safety Regulations

The Senate just passed an overhaul of the nation's food safety system. The new legislation will give more power to the FDA and encourage government agencies to be on the lookout for unsafe foods before illness breaks out instead of just dealing with crises as they come along. The bill is unusual in that it has strong bipartisan support.

Direct government and social regulation approaches were the wisest tools of government to use in relation to food safety reform. Foodborne illnesses cause millions of deaths each year, which makes it an immediate problem; manufacturers should not be rewarded with grants for making changes, they should be punished for not meeting standards that shouldn't even be questioned. The passage of this new legislation shows that when used with the appropriate issues, direct government is an effective and valid tool for quick and successful results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/health/policy/01food.html?_r=1&hp

- Stephanie Doctrow

U.S. Expands Role of Diplomats in Spying

The U.S has been using diplomats in order to gather information such as credit card and frequent-flier numbers, work schedules and other personal information about foreign officials. Records of this date back to 2008. State department spokesman Philip J. Crowley denied the new reports, claiming that "Our diplomats are just that, diplomats, They represent our country around the world and engage openly and transparently with representatives of foreign governments and civil society. Through this process, they collect information that shapes our policies and actions. This is what diplomats, from our country and other countries, have done for hundreds of years." While the U.S's use of diplomats may be controversial, it is a step towards better national security.

Tom Millman
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29spy.html?_r=1&hp

First Black Thursday... now it's Cyber Sunday

In class on Tuesday we talked about what it took to become a citizen in the U.S. My group talked about how the knowledge of technology is vital to being a U.S. citizen, and being able to use it to have imperative knowledge about this country. In this article it proves that technology is leading to change throughout not only America but across the world. This post talks about how most people are now shopping not only on black Thursday but also cyber Sunday. This is when people shop online and try to get the say deals as people did on Thursday in the stores. Stores are now not only slashing prices for people in stores but for the people on their computers as well.
-Will Kalish
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40401822/ns/business-us_business/

'Sophisticated' border tunnel leads to seizure of tons of pot

While most of us were eating Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, authorities in Mexico and California were seizing between twenty to thirty tons of marijuana. The police found another highly “sophisticated” tunnel leading from Mexico into two warehouses in California. Obviously drug trafficking has changed with the times, but something needs to be done to prevent these tunnels from being built. Most of the force is used around the border, but obviously some people must be allocated to prevent these tunnels from being run underneath the border of Mexico and the U.S. This issue should be paired with the current emigration problem in the United States. Both need to be dealt with to keep our country safe from terrorists, or in this case drug dealers.
-Will Kalish
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/26/california.drug.tunnels/index.html

Shift to State System on Care Management Draws Fire

Within this article Ramshaw mentions that the private providers were stripped of their responsibility of taking care of those with disabilities and giving it to the local Texan government of the Mental Retardation Authorities. This is something that has to be taken on by the Legislature. Ms. Castle states that "The state has created a situation where future growth is primarily in the private sector, but they’re still allowing a public sector option for consumers who feel more comfortable there.”
This is connected to what we are learning in class about direct government. When responsibility is taken away from the public and given to the government.


Elizabeth Sziler



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/us/28ttmanagement.html?ref=todayspaper

U.S. lawmakers seek China's help with North Korea

North Korea attacked a South Korean island last week killing four people. U.S officials hope that China will put pressure on North Korea to end the attacks against South Korea. China has a great deal of influence over the North Korean economy, world powers hope that china will use economic policies to control North Korea. As of now it doesn’t seem like China plans to use their influence. South Korea and The United States are participating in military exercises near North Korea. These exercises are meant in part to show the North Korean government that their actions are being watched and that the U.S. is not backing down.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lawmakers-korea-20101129,0,1146438.story