Blog #9

My Article

This article discusses another school shooting that happened on Friday December 13th. A student of Arapahoe High School in Denver, Colorado who was a member of the debate and cross country team, Karl Pierson, came to school armed with a pump action shot gun, a machete, and three Molotov cocktails. He wanted to kill the librarian, who also ran the debate team. He shot a girl, critically wounding her, before taking his own life. He wasn't able to harm anyone else before killing himself because the deputy on campus ran to stop him, prompting him to kill himself. The librarian was not injured as he had left the campus in order to try to make the shooter leave the school.
This relates to AP Gov because it deals with the increase in school shootings and our country's problem with gun control. The problem with gun control is that some killers, such as this shooter, haven't been diagnosed with a mental illness so there's really no way to prevent them from buying a gun. School shootings in particular seem to be growing more and more common in our country, which is horrifying and so sad.
I think one way to help prevent these mass shootings is by having deputies on campus to help deal with problems as soon as they arise. The deputy at this school prevented Pierson from killing other students because Pierson knew that the deputy could make him face the consequences of this shooting. I know that our deputies at New Hanover help prevent and stop fights more efficiently than an untrained teacher could. I don't really know what our country could do to help with gun control. I believe in making it more difficult for regular civilians to buy certain types of guns, but I'm not sure that would really help prevent these kinds of horrible events from happening.

Blog #8

My Article

This article states that though our military killed Osama bin Laden and has been allowing drone strikes targeting al Qaeda leaders, terrorists have gained ground and the U.S. is no safer than it was two years ago. Unfortunately, these kinds of revelations come as no surprise considering that al Qaeda is becoming more decentralized and therefore, more dangerous. That means that al Qaeda now considers it okay to commit "smaller" acts of terror as well as larger acts such as 9/11.

This relates to AP Gov. because it discusses how our government handles foreign threats such as terrorism. It seems like those controversial drone strikes weren't worth the fight anyways, seeing as problem with terrorism has worsened. That isn't to say terrorism has worsened BECAUSE of them, but rather to say that our government shouldn't have used such a controversial measure since they didn't have much of an effect in stopping terrorism.

I think this article is pretty scary but realistic. It makes sense that al Qaeda is becoming more decentralized after bin Laden's death. However, I was a bit surprised to read that they were just as dangerous as before.  It's a bit disturbing to think about the "small" acts of terrorism they could commit, because it's probably easier for al Qaeda to bomb a bunch of cars than it is for them to pull off something on the scale of 9/11.

Blog Post #7

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/17/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/index.html?c=homepage-t&page=2

This article discusses America's response to the plight of the people in the Philippines affected by the typhoon Haiyan. We have sent over 9,000 of our troops to the Philippines to distribute food, water, and first aid to the Filipinos. Britain has also sent lots of support to the Philippines, including their ship The HMS Daring, which distributed first aid and clean water to survivors. Although other countries have been quick to help the Filipino's plight, their own government has been criticized for not quickly responding after the typhoon.

This relates to AP GOPO because it deals with foreign relations and how our government responds to crises in other countries. The US is showing itself to be compassionate and capable by giving aid to this struggling country. This article also demonstrates that governments need to be strong enough to be able to cope with a potential disaster like this. If the Philippine government had possessed some sort of disaster plan, maybe they could have been more prepared to handle some of these problems. Then again, maybe not- this was such a huge catastrophe that it may have been impossible to bounce back and start running things again.

I think this is a really sad crisis and I'm glad America is able to give help to this country. I think this is a better use for our military than attacking Syria.

Blog Post #6

My Article


This article is about a New Jersey shooter who opened fire on a mall on Monday, November 4th and then killed himself. The gunman, Richard Shoop, fired six bullets at random and did not kill anyone. After, he hid in a back room and shot himself. Mall shoppers, though uninjured, were terrified; many didn't leave the mall until early on Tuesday morning. The shooter has had a history with drug and alcohol abuse. He left a vague suicide note that referenced that the "end" was coming soon. Now we know what he meant by "end."

I went on Cnn.com to find an article for my blog this week and I just couldn't believe that I saw yet ANOTHER story about a shooting. It seems ridiculous to me that shootings keep happening and nothing is being done about them. I know this incident wasn't as serious as other recent events like the Aurora and Colorado shootings, but it's still a sign that the issue of gun control needs to be addressed. Though no one but the shooter was physically harmed in this incident, there's no telling what mental and emotional scars this incident left on the shoppers caught in this.

This relates to AP Gov. because gun control is a controversial issue that Americans are heavily debating now. Shootings have been happening more and more frequently in America. Hopefully Congress will take notice and realize that restrictions need to be passed in order for our society to be safer.

Blog Post #5

My Article

This article is about Erin Cox, a Massachusetts teen who was punished by her school for driving her drunk friend home. Erin received a text from a friend at a party one night saying that she was drunk and needed a ride home. By the time Erin arrived at the party to pick up her friend, the police were there handing out drinking tickets. They wrote a note pardoning Erin since she was clearly sober and had only just arrived. Soon after, Erin's school demoted her from captain of the volleyball team and required her to miss the next five games in punishment for simply being there, even though the police vouched for her sobriety.
This applies to AP GOPO because it deals with the issue of whether the school system or law enforcement have more control over a student's life. Even though you'd think the school would pay attention to a written voucher from an officer, they didn't. What does this say about this school, you may ask? I think it says that they believe they are above the law. They claim to have a "zero tolerance policy" concerning alcohol. Do they have a policy about being a good person? Clearly not, because if they did Erin wouldn't have been punished for helping a friend out of a potentially dangerous situation.
This article made me very angry. I can't believe Erin Cox's school would punish her when she's clearly in the right. While I understand the school wanting to stand by their zero tolerance rule, I think this situation is overkill. If Erin hadn't helped her friend out, her friend may have been the victim of a drunk driving accident or worse. As my article expressed, how can authorities expect teens to grow up to be good people if they're being punished for doing the right thing?

Blog Post #4

My Article

This article deals mainly with Miriam Carey's family's reactions to the news that she was shot in a high-speed chase in Washington, D.C. on October 3rd. Ms. Carey apparently rammed into a barricade at the White House prior to being chased by the police. She had her one year old daughter in the car with her, and though Ms. Carey was shot and killed, her daughter was uninjured. Her family stated that Ms. Carey had been diagnosed with post-partum depression with psychosis and had been on medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Ms. Carey had been not taking her medication recently, however, and she told her doctors that she "had been feeling fine recently." According to this article Ms. Carey had also talked about delusions she had in which she believed President Obama was eavesdropping on her and spying on her town.

This article relates to AP GOPO because it demonstrates that the sad consequences of mental illness can have an enormous impact on many people, including people in our government. Clearly this woman was unbalanced and had problems even while on medication and should not have been taken off of her medication. She may have been functioning normally while on her medicine, but that should not have meant that her doctors trusted her enough to take her off medication. I think we're just fortunate that she wasn't able to harm anyone other than herself on this incident.

I think this is a sad and frightening article. It's crazy to think that someone with problems can get so close to harming innocent people. I'm shocked that this woman's doctors took her off of her medications because clearly she was very sick in several ways. Schizophrenics can be dangerous enough, but add bipolar disorder and PPD to that? I'm honestly shocked that no one other than her was hurt because she was clearly not in her right mind. I also wonder, though, if shooting her was the only answer. Even if Ms. Carey was dangerous, the police could have maybe tazed or tranquilized her before putting her in prison. I'm just sad for that little child, though the article makes me think that she has a caring extended family who will hopefully take care of her.

Blog Post #3

My Article

Yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya, Islamic extremists took control of a mall and held everyone inside hostage. Around 175 people have been wounded and 59 are thought to have been killed, though numbers could be much higher than that. Kenyan military forces have entered the mall to try to save the hostages. The rebel extremists have stated that this attack was retribution for the 2011 Kenyan push into Somalia. Some mall visitors escaped the original shootout, but many are still trapped inside.

This article relates to AP Government because it involves terrorist attacks similar to what our government has dealt with in the past. Unfortunately it also relates to us because this horrible hostage situation could have also happened in America. This issue- mass shootings in a public area- sounds all too familiar. This situation further illustrates the instability of these extremist groups. Obviously we knew al-Quaeda and therefore al-Shabar as an extension of al-Quaeda were dangerous and unstable groups, but who would've been able to predict this horrible event happening?

This event is so horrible and upsetting. I feel so bad for the hostages trapped inside this mall because even the soldiers coming to save them might accidentally hurt them with their rocket-launched grenades. I hope these hostages can get out of the mall without anyone else other than possibly the extremists who captured them being hurt or killed.

Blog Post #2

My Article

    The article I chose to write this blog post about discusses Bashar al-Assad's family history. It explains his father's (the ex-president Hafez al-Assad) ascension to power through a mixture of political backstabbing and power grabs. This article also describes Hafez's attempts at diplomacy with the U.S. so that we would leave Syria relatively alone. This article details how Bashar inherited a country that was tightly controlled under Hafez's iron rule and then let go of some of his father's policies that were used to control Syria, such as restrictions on travel and Internet.
    This article applies to AP Government because it discusses the policies of a leader of another country. It's amazing to compare the al-Assad dynasty with our system of electing presidents the democratic way because their control over Syria is incredibly shaky, while our democratic system is relatively strong and well-organized. This article also relates to AP Gov. because it discusses the political culture of Syria right now. Their political culture seems to be very controlling and stifling, as it's run by this cruel dictator.
    I found this article fascinating to read because it illustrate the influence of a parent on a child's politics. Clearly Bashar al-Assad was negatively influenced by his father as a young child. However, I think Hafez al-Assad was more skilled at being a dictator because he understood that allowing citizens to have basic rights such as freedom of transportation and speech *on the Internet) would let them be able to plot against him and possibly overthrow him. Bashar al-Assad didn't seem to realize this and has realized how rebellious his citizens are when given basic human rights.

AP Gov. Post #1

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/marijuana-legalization-tipping-point/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

   This article discusses the general public's growing acceptance of the idea of legalizing marijuana. The movement has recently made several large steps forward; respected doctor Sanjay Gupta announced his support of medical marijuana, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that mandatory minimum drug sentences would begin to be curved, and New York's stop-and-frisk policy was declared to be unconstitutional. All of these events show a growing realization that more and more Americans are in favor of the idea of legalizing marijuana. Certain facts in this article show that some government officials are exhibiting less resistance to this controversial idea as well; as this article notes, the government could have shut down pot legalization in Washington and Colorado through several ways, such as prohibiting the IRS from allowing tax reductions when purchasing marijuana.
   I have mixed feelings about legalizing pot. I understand that it would be very useful for medicinal purposes and would supposedly help put more money into our economy, but I also think it would be more abused than before legalization. There are positive effects that legalizing pot would have on our society, but there are also many negative effects. As this article mentions, pot has negative long term effects on your health, such as short term memory loss, an increased risk of heart attack, and a higher potential for strokes and birth defects. This shows that legalizing pot could be detrimental to our society's health and well-being. The shaky positive to legalizing marijuana is that it could possibly help our economy's growth; however, this proposed economic uplift is very vague and not well outlined. Another positive to legalizing marijuana would be more room in prison and less work for police officers in regards to people charged with possessing pot.
   I feel like the article I chose does a decent job of remaining unbiased and reporting plain facts. It surprised me to read about the dramatic change in the statistics of the amount of people who had tried marijuana; it's a huge change to go from 4/100 having tried it in 1969 to 4/10 people having tried it in 2013. That's a 36% increase in 44 years! This just goes to show how effective the war on drugs has been and how the public opinion has started to change in favor of legalizing pot.
   This article relates to AP Gov. because legalizing marijuana is currently a hot button issue in American politics. There are many conflicting sides to this argument, many of which have their own unique and valid perspectives as to how this issue should be addressed. I believe it's important to be educated about the pros and cons of a debate as heated as this before forming any kind of opinion.