Education in Schools

For me, education is defined in a few ways. An individual with a good education is some one who can identify what is right and what is wrong, has the skills to do what they believe to be best, and what the believe to be best is what is right. Any productive member of society needs to have a good education. It is unfortunate that high schools cannot meet the needs of every student. With the focus of schools shifting to standardized testing, the status quo curricullum now revolves around a test kids are supposed to take. The high school system is taught by highly unqualified educators, who (there are infinite exceptions) teach in order to get a paycheck and not produce a good well rounded youth. Teachers in Finland are required to have a masters in their field of study, are regarded as one of the highest ranking professions in the country, and are paid well. All these are characteristics of a nation with a good educational system, qualities that the United States do not pocess. Do our schools serve the goals of a true education? No. This is an unfortunate reality because there is a rise in students lacking specialized skills, lack of critical thinking and logical analysis capabilities, a higher poverty rate, a higher crime rate, along with many other serious issues that United States citizens must figure out. Yet the question is, can they?

Blog Sixteen

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/world/middleeast/syria-meets-deadline-for-arms-destruction-plan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

In "Syria Meets Deadline for Arms Destruction Plan," Nick Cumming-Bruce writes about a very interesting and unexpected occurrence regarding Syria. Anyone with a slight idea of current events knows that the Middle East, specifically Syria is one of the most conflicted regions in history. The "civil" war in Syria is one of the most talked about and politically engaging topics. The international community avoided heavy military response, and due to Putin's pushing agreed on a peaceful diplomatic way to settle the conflict. There is still fighting to this day, but Assad's regime has successfully created a plan which destroys their chemical arsenal three days ahead of schedule. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is in charge of destroying the weapons. Countries such as the United States have been accusing Syria of not listing at least twenty two chemical weapons sites. It is a great occurrence  however, when a country that is accused of being run by crooks and criminals goes the extra mile to prove to the international community that their ability to run a country is greater than anyone thought. By the middle of 2014, Syria's chemical arsenal of weapons is expected to be destroyed. This destruction of arms plan includes eradicating Syria's capabilities to create and weaponize more chemicals.

The American Ally Who Cannot Move Forward

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/20/netanyahu-pressure-iran_n_4132088.html

Israel is one of the most controversial countries in the world. Since its inception in the 1950's: Palestine has lost a majority of its lands, the Middle East is at unrest, and the United States' wallet gets emptier by the week, all due to Israel. Israel is one of the few nations that has a nuclear arms program. Just like India, Pakistan, and South Africa, it is one the nations in the world who runs a nuclear program illegally. Although it is a signatory of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, it is one of two states that has yet to ratify it. Iran has recently been accused of developing a nuclear program for military use. After harsh diplomatic tensions arose during the past administrations, newly elected moderate president Hassan Rouhani has allowed for transparency for the nuclear program. After the International communities are ready to start peace talks, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared that this was an undesirable action. The international community should be more harsh and strict regarding Iran. Should the International community desire peace, or conflict? Israel believes conflict. It is not a good choice, and is even considered immoral. It is up to the international community to decide.

Congress' Bipartison Effort (Not a Joke)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-tells-house-gop-negotiations-have-ended/2013/10/12/fa0d3f42-334a-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_story.html?wpmk=MK0000205

Anyone with a infinitismal idea of the political situation in the United States knows very well that Congress has run into a few issues. It is clear that the root of the problems is party politics; the personal agenda pf party leaders who are either to liberal or to conservative that own dictionaries missing the word "compromise". The defunding of the Affordable Health Care Act was a process that right wing Conservatives believed to be smooth. It resulted, however, in one of the largest government shutdowns in United States history. It is now this partisan gridlock that prevents the United States government from raising the debt ceiling. It is unfortunate that the secretary of  the Treasury can barely balance the nation's books and soon will be unable to pay the government's bills. The most significant of these payments are the bond interests owed to countries such as China and Japan. These countries are more than willing to collect the trillion dollars in capital owned in bonds. If the decision to collect is made, the United States is far from able to allocate the necessary funding. It is therefore the responsibility of the egotistic and far from serviceful public servants to halt the  effects of this gridlock and move beyond political agenda  to do what they got elected for. It does not seem that constituents are pleased with a representative who cannot focus on one collective mission: do what is best for these United States of America.

How the Shutdown Affects the United States' International Activities

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/white-house-warns-us-sanctions-regime-against-iran-at-risk-due-to-government-shutdown/2013/10/04/6577656e-2d24-11e3-b141-298f46539716_story.html

It pretty much goes without saying that the Founding Fathers of the United States of America are rolling over in their graves knowing that the individuals who represent the most powerful branch of the federal government cease to represent the best interests of nation and instead try to win partisan victories. Each Congressman has the power to do what is right, and as unimaginable as it may seem, compromise. Congress' inability to compromise and do right resulted in a partial government shutdown starting October 1, 2013. The shutdown affects all but the security forces and, ironically, Congress. 

This shutdown, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney, has caused the department of the Treasury to furlough the entire staff that handles the sanctions on Iran. This is a very obvious issue, because Congress' unwillingness to compromise affects the core functions of that department. These sanctions are not just for Iran, the new ones on Syria, drug cartels, and other syndicate groups also have no U.S. government body that can penalize the sanction violators. 

This shutdown allows for many individuals to criticize the United States. Now that the United States has re-opened partial diplomatic ties with Iran, Israel and other nations are concerned.

Presentation Critique

The "Ballot or the Bullet" speech delivered by Malcolm X is considered one of the best delivered speeches with pertaining to civil rights. How unfortunate that the colored man must pay the price of the white man's greed and abuse of power, and the result of this hatred and bigotry is only more hatred and violence. Malcolm X's revolutionary philosophy and ideology was polar to his counterpart Martin Luther King Jr. In this particular speech,  El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (his Islam name) urged the audience on April 3, 1964, at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio,to exercise their civic responsibility, the right to vote. Every citizen of the United States had the right to do so, including African Americans. It would only be useful in a democratic society if people voted. Malcolm X urges his audience to elect individuals who are willing to protect the rights of African Americans, a slow yet effective process. He states that if this effort was to fail, then it would become necessary to bear arms and use violence and force to accomplish goals that defend the interests of African Americans. Samuel Ekimyan and Kevin Koseyan presented a very informative speech. Major improvements for next time are: use flashcards as backup not main source of information, look at the audience, and focus on the essence of the speech (be as enthusiastic and passionate as Malcolm X was.