"Clintons Cling to the 1990s"

It seems as though for all the attention Hillary gets for her campaign, Bill receives it as well. We constantly hear about his remarks and opinions on several subjects. Ms. Clinton recently talked about the Clinton era and received laughter. Bill is still a big asset and symbol that changes many peoples feelings towards her. Hillary made some comments that even though there was turmoil some good things did happen when Bill was president.
The argument against her is, did Hillary really change her ideas, or has she kept the same ones she had back in the '90s. I know I base my opinion about what she does now, but many people do not. Bill should have nothing to do with her campaign.


http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/clintons-cling-to-the-1990s/

"Obama Aide: Clinton Adviser’s Decision to Quit the ‘Right Thing’"

Due to recent accusations about Obama's adolescent drug usage, a campaigner for Clinton decided to pull himself out. The extent to which this accusation went was just too far.

"When Football Moves to the Head of the Class"

College sports are becoming even more popular and 'important.' So much so that some people go to college just to play them, not to study. Either people are losing their sense of what college is supposed to be for, or America's emphasis on college education is changing. The message being sent out to these young-adults is be involved in what's happening now, not where you will be in ten years. The best examples of this are three of the country's most talented quarterbacks - Dennis Dixon, Colt Brennan and Matt Ryan. They spend more time watching film than studying in class. Dixon's only class is billiards. Brennan, take only three classes, one of which is CPR. Ryan has a degree, but needs three classes to stay at the university so he takes 3 night classes all on different days once a week. Brennan said, "Basically, what your focus is on is Saturday and the game. The distractions are a lot less." Althought they are great athletes I feel that they need to see how this will effect them later on. As William C. Friday, former North Carolina president says, "intercollegiate athletics is becoming an entertainment industry." These players only care about one thing, making it to the professional level. If somehow they aren't able to play...what other options will they have?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/sports/ncaafootball/01football.html?ref=education&p...

"California Schools move to the head of the class"

Highschools in California have dominated national rankings released today. This is a great fact that opposes the widely believed idea that state schools here are lagging behind. The top school was Pacific Collegiate School. Although there are many areas stuggling in public education, some schools shine. This also goes further onto State Universities. People are coming from all over to get an education in California. It is important though that we see that are are schools lacking. We need to address them and work on building up the level of education being provided.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-usnews1dec01,1,7353847.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Is there a Nice Way to Say "Stay out?"

"A Fence without offense"

U.S Border Patrol agents are hard at work developing a wall to divide the U.S and Mexico. The difficult part of this is to develop a wall that not only is enviromentally safe, economically built, and formidable but not lethal. This fence has to be able to stand up against all the techniques smugglers have developed. "This is the only humane border fence being constructed" says Collin Sloan. Spanning about 300 miles this is the biggest fence built in South Western history. The different terrains the fence goes through makes it difficult to pick just one type. There have been many failed designs so hope only grows with time. Developers know that no fence will be impenetrable, all they want is one that will allow them time to reach the smugglers and immigrants before they reach the border communities in the U.S.

This is one of the biggest migrations in history. We need to find a solution to it fast. Our nations are friendly, making it difficult to build a threatning wall. The fence developers are hard at work and I believe it is worth it. This is a step not a solution, but definitely a step in the right path. We need to conitinue to up security and limit illegal migration.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fence16nov16,1,4628876.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=3&cset=true

"What it All Comes Down To: Why You?"

"Yes, they still ask about Iraq. And they still wonder about plans to reform health care. But for many Democratic voters, a single question is starting to replace all others: Why you?"
People today are so caught up in what the candidates say about certain issues, only liking those who appeal to their opinions. Seeing past all the current issues, what morals and what take do these candidates have in a the long run? More people need to see these candidates as people. The whole point of a campaign is to gain the votes of citizens. A candidate can say whatever they desire to please the people. Although, based on history they will do a completely different thing when they are in office. How do we trust them? The only thing we have to go on are their acts and behavior of the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/us/politics/09web-zeleny.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"Microsoft's slice of Facebook"

This last week, Microsoft purchased a share of the well-known website, Facebook, that gave it an overall value of about $15 billion. Microsoft saw this as a huge victory especially because it was against their competitor, Google. This although a big win for Microsoft was a small win for Google, because with the rapidly growing social universe and amount of ad online sales, Google completely dominates.
To everyone that uses Facebook, it is a way to stay in touch with friends, make an online identity, share opinions, join groups and waste countless hours of a day. To advertisers, Facebook is a self-created focus group that brings us all together. The easier we can put ourselves onto the internet, the easier we make it for advertisers to find us. By putting up our information, we allow advertisers to see what our interests are. So make sure to always be cautious of what you post, because you never know who is actually reading it.
"Microsoft's purchase does begin to answer an important question: Just how valuable is commercial access to a rapidly expanding, demographically pleasing community of people whose favorite hobby seems to be identifying themselves, their desires and their connections to other like-minded folk?"
So did Microsoft really just buy a popular website? Or did they find something greater, like our opinions?


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/opinion/28sun3.html?_r=1&n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials&oref=slogin

"Ain't That America"

This country is fooling itself if we believe that all immigrants are bad. Based on our economy, immigrants are needed for certain jobs and provide stability. The problem is how to regulate them.

"Think of America's greatest historical shames. Most have involved the singling out of groups of people for abuse. Name a distinguishing feature--skin color, religion, nationality, language--and it's likely that people here have suffered unjustly for it, either through the freelance hatred of citizens or as a matter of official government policy."

Unfortunately we target all those who look like immigrants, every single Spanish-speaking person. Many ideas have come up on what to do with the status of the immigrants. Some say deport them all, others claim that giving them all amnesty is necessary, two big extremes for such a big issue.

People need to see that this issue will affect us whether we ant it to or not. We need to distinguish between the people who are actually trying to better their lives and those who take advantage of government aid. This issue has been ongoing and the more time it takes, the more adapted they come, the more influential they get, the bigger the role in society all the immigrants become.

http://nytimes.com/2007/10/22/opinion/22mon1.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials

Gang Rivalry Turns into Race War

"As the story goes, the East Coast Crips robbed a Florencia 13 drug connection of a large quantity of dope nearly a decade ago. Since then, the tale of how a black street gang ripped off a Latino rival has taken on mythic proportions." But no one really knows if this actually happened. For years even decades, violence between the two gangs as escalated to the status of a race war. Innocent people are getting involved simply due to their color and where they are seen. The U.S Attorney's office has announced an indictment against members of the Latino gang, Florencia 13, claiming that they have started a campaign to drive out African-American rivals. The area was once primarily black, but now is dominantly Latino. The amount of Homicides has gone down considerably due the harsh pursuit of local policemen, but unfortunately the war still rages on. This violence not only hurts the gangs but locals as well as the economy. Kids are being influenced and forced to join a gang simply for protection. There needs to be a lot more attention to this issue. Gang violence spreads throughout the whole community and the effects are never good.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-firestone18oct18,1,72838.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro&ctrack=8&cset=true

“Failing Schools Strain to meet U.S Standard”

Los Angeles public schooling is at an all time low. For the past half-dozen years, not even one in five students in the East L.A’s district’s teeming high schools has been able to do grade-level math or English. For the continuous failing of schools like these, the “No Child Left Behind law,” now up for change by Congress, requires drastic measures such as: firing teachers and principals, shutting schools down and turning them over to a private firm, a charter operator or the state itself, or a major repair in authority.

More than 1,000 of California’s 9,500 schools are branded chronic failures, and the numbers are growing. The need for change is becoming necessary and must come by 2014 when the law requires universal math and language proficiency. California is not the only state with problems. It is followed by Florida, Maryland, and even New York. California citizens’ groups have sued the state and federal government for failing to deliver on the law’s promises. The problem is that there are simply too many schools not producing adequate education, but they cannot be closed due to the demand of the number of youth. “A federal survey last year showed that in 87 percent of the cases of persistently failing schools, states and school districts avoided wholesale changes in staff or leadership.” Under the No Child Law schools are asked for more, as the performance drops over a couple of years.

The community needs to take the load rather than the state. It all has to do with those in charge not only of the hiring but of the teaching of each subject. If a teacher is not able to teach a student, a student simply will not be able to learn the material adequately. Although, a student must take their classes seriously. More emphasis should be put on education.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/education/16child.html?pagewanted=2&hp

"The New Affirmative Action"

Affirmative Action.....Necessary? or Impossible?
About 20-30 years ago, being African-American could get a person into just about any public University without an outstanding G.P.A. Simply meeting registration requirements was enough because diversity was seen as a necessity in colleges.

Around the 1990's universities began to slow down and took a more passive stand on affirmative-action policies. Eventually California voters passed the California Civil Rights Initiative, also known as Proposition 209. This meant that race could no longer be a factor in accepting applicants to public universities. As a result the number of black students accepted into certain universities dropped immensely.

A man named Peter Taylor, a former U.C.L.A. graduate has spear-headed an organization to get black students into colleges like Berkeley and U.C.L.A. His group of students, teachers, alumni, and activists have been working for about a year and have seen a little success.

Proposition 209 has created a patently impossible situation. Due to the fact that the California's 'better' High schools offer A.P and Honor classes kids getting accepted to colleges such as Berkeley have an average G.P.A of 4.2. In largely black schools, or city schools it is almost impossible to reach a 4.0 due to the fact that no higher level courses are being taught.

“Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with and the neighborhood you live in — by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child and, finally, the man.” -Lyndon Johnson

This is just the tip to a long debated issue. I feel that affirmative action is necessary if we are to give people equal chances to higher education or even as far as job security. Click on the link below to read the full article and get a little more insight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/magazine/30affirmative-t.html?ref=education

The Jena Six reminds Us of Racism

A past issue that has recently been dominating the media is the case of "The Jena Six." Recent events in Jena, Lousiana have caused the rise of an underlying issue, Racism. The unequal treatment of six black students arrested for beating a white classmate has brought it back to light. Previously, white students had hung nooses in a schoolyard tree to warn the black students not to sit under the shaded tree at school with them. These students were only suspended. At a party shortly after, a group of white students beat up a black student who sat under the tree and no accusations were made. In retaliation the black kid beat up one of the white kids and was tried as an adult and sentenced to twenty-two years in jail. Now this has all taken place last year, but due to the peoples interests it is finally seeing some light and justice. Paul Krugman said, "the reality is that things haven't changed nearly as much as people think." Racial tension is still present in the South, as well as everywhere else. My opinion is that people need to see and accept the different races in America for it to work properly. It is not only a basic right to be treated fairly under law, but just morally wrong. The so called tradition of racism present in the South is just the ignorance of many people wanting to cling to something that gives them the feeling of a little more power. The fact that six teenage boys were objects of this ignorant hatred is just sad. The same standards need to be set for all those involved.

www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/opinion/24krugman.html?ref=opinion

The Jena Six

Will Simpson Ever Learn?

"In sports, when referees make a bad call, it's not uncommon for them to follow up by making a similarly bad call against the opposing team; though it compounds the mistake, at least it evens out the consequences." "Given that prosecuters are being presented with an opportunity to make the ultimate makeup call againast the former star" (Tackling O.J- latimes.com)

O.J Simpson the Heisman winning, NFL Hall of Famer is once again back in the courtroom. In American society, professional-athlets although not 'intentionally' are held to a higher standard when it comes to the law. This is usually because they are seen as role modes and examples to a lot of people. There is always something in the news about some athlete commiting a crime, where as if that same crime were committed by a normal citizen no attention by the media would be given.
In O.J's case he's already had his crime and attention but seems to not be able to learn from it. Although no murder was commited, it came awfully close. O.J took a little step down to the supposedly armed robbery of his own stolen memorabilia. A man named Thomas J. Riccio has emerged as the central figure in the case against O.J. Riccio has his own record of several felony convictions without even denying any.

Riccio secretly taped the meeting between O.J, O.J's associates and himself, because tape is undoubtable. Riccio stated that about a month before the incident he had been contacted by two men claiming to have personal belongings of Mr. Simpson. Riccio claims to have set up the meeting originally as a prospective view of the merchandise, while inviting O.J. Riccio says his intentions of inviting Simpson were purely for his aid in recovering his items. He later said that Simpson and several other men came into his room demanding the merchandise at gun-point. O.J denies this and says the meeting was much calmer with no guns involved. As a result of Riccio's 'help' "Simpson and three other men were charged Tuesday with felony counts including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the purported theft."

Maybe Simpson just has incredibly bad luck with the law. He should have learned from last time not to do anything he thought illegal. Simpson is now free on bail of $125,000. This time he will not be let off as easy and will almost assuredly face some type of punishment.

Sources:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-riccio19sep19,1,6334298.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=7&cset=true

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na-oj-20sep20,0,6532740.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-simpson18sep18,0,6070829.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail

"Hopes Dim for Measures to Conserve Energy"

Bills previously passed this year by Congress, on the conservation of energy are having a dwindling effect and are seeing little if any light. This is due to the policy and technical conflictions between the House, the Senate, and even the President. Efficient energy promotion was seen as a priorty not too long ago, but due to other events such as the war in Iraq, and financial market concern attention has turned. A conference was supposed to be called to resolve the different bills established, but leaders will not be able to be elected until end of October and the idea of skipping the conference seems to be rejected by the Republicans because it will cause a "Filibuster." The Senates proposed bill includes:
"increasing automobile fuel-efficiency standards to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, compared to 27.5 m.p.g. today...another section would require utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020."
Usually the House and Senate reconcile bills, but because they are two completely different bills, on the ideas of standard gas mileage and renewable power it will have to be decided which is passed first in order to call a conference. A new Senate bill is being worked on to match the House bill but any finality is yet to be reached.
"President Bush has threatened to veto the House bill, which he says does not have enough incentives for domestic energy production, and the Senate bill because it has penalties for price gouging by the oil industry."
This raises another question about our occupation in Iraq. Iraq is known to be an abundant resource of oil that is relatively cheap. So is Bush really only trying to help their people? After further research it was found that the UN and the US are working on new policies in Iraq such as:
"The Iraqi constitution of 2005, greatly influenced by US advisors, contains language that guarantees a major role for foreign companies. Negotiators hope soon to complete deals on Production Sharing Agreements"
This issue, like the occupation in Iraq seems to be a long way from being solved. This issue is being worked on gradually but no relatively big break through's have been made.
"It’s not a pretty picture,” said Frank Maisano, an energy lobbyist. “That’s not to say that in time they won’t be able to craft a compromise. But they’re clearly not in any hurry.”
So it seems that those of us who have not yet bought hybrids will still be going to the gas station weekly seeing how much we can squeeze in our tanks. This is a big issue becoming evident to every citizen with a car or with energy bills to pay. Hopefully Congress can decide on what 'needs' to be done soon.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/washington/13energy.html?_r=1

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/irqindx.htm