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.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
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.
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.
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