What Does the "DADT" Repeal Really Mean?

What does the DADT Bill really mean?  Well for those of you who don't know what DADT stands for it means "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".  And it is a bill that was recently passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Obama.  But what many people don't know is  
that this isn't the first time the issue of LGBTs being in the military has been presented to the government.  Back in 1942 LGBTs were not allowed in the military, which is when they were preparing to go into World War II.  But even before that servicemembers who were gay would be court-martialed, imprisoned, and dishonorably discharged from the military if they were discovered to be gay.  So when former president Bill Clinton tried to overturn the ban of gays in the military members of Congress and the public said no, so DADT was presented as a compromise policy.  Something else people don't know is that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" wasn't the original name of the bill.  It was Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue." The "Don’t Ask" provision mandates that military or appointed officials will not ask about or require members to reveal their sexual orientation.  The "Don’t Tell" states that a member may be discharged for claiming to be a homosexual or bisexual or making a statement indicating a tendency towards or intent to engage in homosexual activities. The "Don’t Pursue" establishes what is minimally required for an investigation to be initiated.  A "Don’t Harass" provision was added to the policy later.  It ensures that the military will not allow harassment or violence against service members for any reason.

And now that we have a new president the ban has been lifted.  And President Obama already said back in 2009 that he wanted to stop this bill because he felt that if someone wanted to serve our country in the military, they shouldn't be discriminated against.


(This video is of President Obama back in January talking about how he wanted to end the don't ask, don't tell policy.)

Now, finally, the president and many others are getting their wish, because the repeal has passed. 

( This video is of the Senate passing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal.)

And the president has even said he will do everything in his power to try and get this bill implemented has soon as possible soon that troops can serve as being openly gay.  And that they will not be treated any different from anyone else in the military.

( President Obama is giving a speech about how troops can serve openly gay now and how he would like to have this bill in effect as soon as possible.)



(President Obama signing DADT repeal.)


How this story relates to class:
This story relates to class because at the beginning of the year we talked about how people have civil rights and how they should not be discriminated against.  And because the DADT bill has now been repealed people can now serve our country without being discriminated against because of who they are.  Like when blacks couldn't go to certain places because of their color, they were then being discriminated against because of who they were.  So in away these to things are kind of the same.

9/11 Health Bill Passes!

(This is a video of the Senate passing the 9/11 Health Bill.)

On Wednesday, December 22, 2010 the Senate passed the 9/11 Health Bill after a last minute decision that was negotiated by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), because Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) kept on putting a block up for the passing of this bill because he felt the cost of the measure was to high.  The original cost of the bill was $7.4 billion for eight years, but after the negotiation the bill provides $4.3 billion over five years to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others who became sick from breathing in toxic fumes, dust, and smoke after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.  And now that the cost of the bill has changed, Sen. Tom Coburn is satisfied and he expressed it by saying, “Every American recognizes the heroism of the 9/11 first responders,” he said. “But it is not compassionate to help one group while robbing future generations of opportunity.”  The new version of the bill provides $1.8 billion over the next five years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris at ground zero.  And then legislators will set aside $2.5 billion to reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for five years to provide payment for job and economic losses.  And 10% of the cost for this bill be paid by New York. 

But this isn't the first time the 9/11 Health Bill has come up in the House of Representatives.  Back in July of this year the House had to vote on weather they should pass this bill and because the Republicans have majority the bill did not get the 2/3 votes for it to be passed.  So Representative of New York, Anthony Weiner (D-NY), had "a little episode" where he told the Republicans how he felt about them not passing the bill, "It's Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans, rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes! It is a shame, a shame!". 

( This a video of the Democrat representative of New York, Anthony Weiner, defending the 9/11 Health Bill against GOP, (which is the Republican Party) attacks.)

(Picture of Anthony Weiner responding to attacks on 9/11 Health Bill.)

And now that the bill has passed finally many people are happy, including our president, who thinks the health bill is a great idea and he was very happy to sign it.

(President Obama speaking about his views on the 9/11 Health Bill.)


How this relates to class:
This story relates to AP class because at the beginning of the year we were talking about how a bill gets passed and how it takes two-thirds of the House of Representatives to pass a bill.  And we also talked about how Republicans are conservatitives, which means their thoughts on how the government should be ran are more old fashioned than those of the Democrats who are more liberal.

Body Scans At the Airport (AREN'T THEY AN INVASION OF PRIVACY!)

                               
  There has been a huge conservancy over the full body scans in America.  A lot of people don't seem to like them because they feel that they reveal to much of themselves.  Which I could agree to.  But when you look at the pros and cons about having these body scans the pros kind of out way the cons.

PROS:
  There are a few pros for these body scans.  One pro that I can think of that's very important is the fact that they protect the citizens of the United States, like they keep us out of harms way.  The reason I say this is because when we had the metal detectors at the airport those really didn't do any good because terrorists were still getting through security check with dangerous items.  So I feel that maybe since we now have these new body scans security will be able to better pin point the terrorists who are trying to destroy our country.  Another pro about these full body scans is the fact that they do speed up the airport process, which is going though security check and getting to the airplane before it takes off. 


CONS:
  Even though there are pros there are also cons that are kind of important too.  One con I think of that is important is the fact that these scans are too revealing.  Now I know I said that they were kind of a good thing because now security can really see who the terrorists are, but I still feel that they reveal to much to security when they are looking at the monitors to the body scans.  I mean you never really know who the airports has working for them, a security guard may be a pervert and try to take pictures of your body while your in the scanner and sell them to other perverts as porn. 
                                  
For example there are already some security guards who are in trouble for trying to sell pictures of celebrities while they were in a scanner at an airport, which I feel violates the right to privacy act that we learned about in class.
( You can read about this story at this website)
http://gyantunplugged.com/real-news/told-you-so-tsa-employees-circulate-naked-pictures-of-film-star/
Another con to these scanners is people aren't really sure if the radiation that they give off are harmful to our body, but sciencist are still looking into it so we should know the details soon.
  Even though I talked about pros and cons, I didn't mention the alternative option people have when they go to the airport.  Like I said early some people don't like the idea of someone looking through their clothes with the body scanners in the airport, but for those who don't like it they have the option of getting a pat down.  Now to me that's definetly insane, but some people are doing it.  But what I don't get is why would you want someone feeling all over your body, espically in the eye of the public.
 
   But the ultimate alternative is just to drive to where your going, you know take a little road trip with the family and have fun, that's only if you really don't want to go through the airport hassle.  But in way I guess it's kind of a good thing because we do need things that will keep our country safe.

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What A Crazy Election!!!!

  The November 2, 2010 election sure was an exciting one!  I mean when you look at the results and expectations of the people, including President Barack Obama, they were pretty shocking.  People expected the Democrats to keep their control over the House of Representatives and Senate.  But the only thing still under control by the Democrats in the Senate.  The Republicans or "GOP", which is what their being called now, which stands for Grand Ol' Party, has control over the House of Representatives.  They are also being called the "Tea Party" too.  But getting back to the election, the Republicans won control over the House of Representatives by 51 votes.  

 

(  This is a picture of how many states voted for the Republicans for them to win majority in the House of Representatives)

( This is a video of the Republican Party talking about their victory in the midterm election)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7016516n

But the Democrats still have control overs the Senate by 6 votes, which isn't very many votes but at least they still have control.   
  Now getting back to the expectations of the people, many registered voters thought the Democrats were to still have majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.  But when this didn't happen many people started to blame the president because by him being a Democrat, he really didn't start campaigning until right around election time and many people felt he should have started earlier than that.  And because he didn't, supporters of the Democratic party feel that is why the Republicans won so many seats in the House of Representatives.  

 ( This is a video of President Obama giving a speech about the midterm election.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b2RZeliN_g

  But the question that many people are asking is, since the Republicans are now in control and have majority what are they going to do about the problems that are going on in America?  Like the millions of people with out jobs, people homes are going to into foreclosure because of the economy, what are they doing to do about the economy, are they going to keep the benefits for millions of unemployed people going, or are they going to stop.  There are many things that people want to see be done and they are wondering are they going to get done now.
  People are also making predictions about the next up and coming election.  Many are starting to think that the Republicans have the votes in the bag because, like we learned in class, Republicans are Conservatives and many of their views are the same as the citizens of the United States because they want to cut cost of the government's spending just like many citizens do because they are using the tax payers money and with this in the mind of the taxpayers, this could really help them out when it comes to votes for their party.  People are also predicting that President Barack Obama is going to be a one term president because of the turn out for the midterm election.  Many Democrats really didn't come out to vote, so many people we will have a Republican for our next president, like Sarah Palin, or someone else who is not as liberal as our president now. 
  I personally think when it comes time for registered voters, like myself, to vote I think if all vote for what ever we believe in and who we think is best to run our country effectively and efficiently we not be disappointed in the results and we would have no one but ourselves because we did not go out and vote so our voices could be heard.

Reflection (On House of Representatives)

Lately the House of Representatives has been under the watchful eye of the public.  People have been watching to see what they are going to do about some of our major problems in the United States.  Like the millions of jobless citizens in the US.  Are they going to extend the bill for jobless benefits or are they going to block it?  Well according to the public opinion poll that was taken on November 15, just three days before the decision was made regarding the extension of the bill, there was major support for the extension of the jobless  benefits bill, with 83% of Democrats, 80% of Independents (they can also be called a political elite because they may be a small group in politics but their votes do make a difference in the outcome of whether or not something passes), and 55% of Republicans supporting it.  But on November 18, according to political cleavages, the extension of the bill was blocked with votes of 258 opposing it and 154 supporting it, which means that it didn't get the 2/3 votes for it to pass.  And the sad part about this block is the fact that millions of unemployed people will not receive any more money after December 1.  This also means that some of the Liberals(Democrats)  did not vote for this bill.  Which gave the Conservatives (Republicans) the upper hand in this vote. 

 *(This is a picture of a woman at a job fair applying and looking for jobs.  She also just applied for unemployment benefits last week.)
In my opinion, being a moderate, I don't think the bill for unemployment benefits should have been blocked.  I think it should've been extended until the end of February, but only for those people who are truly looking for a job.  Now how will they know if someone has really been looking for work I don't know.  I suppose they could really look into the places someone has applied for but I think that would take to much time and the people of the House of Representatives don't have that kind of time, because they deal with so many things in a day that they just wouldn't have time.  So because my political ideology isn't fully developed yet, because I still don't really have set beliefs and values on politics, I went to the Internet and people and asked was the House of Representatives right for blocking the extension of the bill.  And after reading and hearing what people from the political socialization have said I'm not really sure if I agree with myself when I said I think the House of Representatives should have extended the unemployment benefits.  I mean because when you look at the pros and cons of this bill they kind of match.  Like, yes these benefits will help millions of unemployed people, but if this bill were to be extended to the end of February the cost of it would add $12.5 billion to the nation's debt.  And after analyzing all this information I think I am a true moderate because I do understand where the Republicans and Democrats are coming from.

*( People are waiting in line to get a job at a job fair)
http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/pm-report-house-votes-down-jobless-benefits/E7EB9795-D4BB-4B5E-882F-CAF45B9E2A6C

Can You Really Do This Under the 1st Amendment?

So first of all the 1st Amendment gives you the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion.  It also says that Congress can not make a law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of one.  But in the 1st Amendment the federal government does put limits on things and one of them is obscenity.  And this is because the Supreme Court has generally refused to give obsecenity any protection under the 1st Amendment.  So I bet your wondering where I'm going with all of this, well recently in the news a man in Akron, Ohio has been under the radar for a obscene display he has put in his front yard of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.  In the display President Obama is standing in back of First Lady Michelle Obama, who is bent over, with his pants down.  And she is saying in a caption bubble " I'm not the only one getting screwed by Obama you are too!"  And to top it all off the display is right across the street from a kids playground where they can get a full view of the display.  So when the man was asked why did he put up the sign he said because "I have the right too".  And when he was asked to take it down he said no because, one it was a violation of his 1st Amendment rights to freedom of speech.  And two because he is teaching kids about their governemnt rights to freedom of speech.  Now in my opinion I think the man should take down the signs because not only does it set a bad example for the kids he was trying to teach a lesson to but it was also inappropriate.  But when you ask other people what do they think, they say he has the right to put that display up because he is protected by the 1st Amendment, but I honestly don't think they were thinking about the kids when they said this, because kids ages 4-10 shouldn't be exposed to such graphic material like that.  So my question to you is, what do you think about this situation?  Do you think the man should take the signs down or should he leave them up? 
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Are you down with LGBT?

I don't know about you, but I'm cool with LGBTs.  For those of you who don't know what LGBT is, it stands for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders.  I mean why is it such a big deal if someone is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.  Are they really bothering you?  Cause chances are their not, their just being who they are.  And I know it says in the Bible that God created Adam and Eve and not "Adam and Steve" but who cares, if someone is happy with who they are then people should let them be.  And one reason why people should let them be is because they have the same rights just like everyone else in the United States of America.  They shouldn't have to be denied jobs just because of who they are, because even though the Constitution doesn't talk about discrimination specifically it does kind of hint around it in Amendment 14 when it talks about the due process clause and how discrimination against race is a violation of the due process clause.  Another reason why people should let them be is because they are slowly killing gays and lesbians off one by one.  For example, earlier in this month a student who went to New Jersey University in Piscataway, NJ killed himself because he found out that his roomate video taped him having sex with another man.  That right there is exactly what I'm talking about.  The bullying people has to stop, just because you don't mean any harm by it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.  And if you did mean to harm someone by bullying them then you should be ashamed of yourself because if the shoe were on the other foot you wouldn't want to go through with what this boy went through and he's just one of the five boys who has committed suicide in the month of October for being bullied alone for his sexual prefrence.  Now if this is just for the month of October then imagine how many people commit suicide in a year for being bullied.   Another reason why teens or people in general are committing suicide from being bullied, is not just from the bullies themselves, but also because the bystanders aren't saying anything either.  And the reason why they aren't saying anything is because they think they'll be uncool or they may think they will be bullied next, but if saving someones life means you'll be uncool or you'll be bullied next doesn't that make it worth it?  I mean I could be wrong cause some people only care about themselves, but I know I would.  But the real question is would you?

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What's Wrong With Blogging?

There are alot of concerns when it comes to blogging. One major concern that people have is will students or people in general get their feelings hurt, because people can post something that is very hurtful to someone else, which in the end can cause them to harm themselves.  Another concern people have is are young people who do have blogs putting important information out there.  Like are they putting things out there that are too risky or are they putting photos up that show too much skin.  A couple things students should keep in mind when blogging are not to put information out there that you wouldn't want your parents or someone who is importatnt to you to see and don't be mean when blogging because even though you may not think words can hurt someone they can and then that can turn into a dangerous situation.