Blog Post #9

"Family Wants Action After 25-Year-Old in Maserati Shot, Killed by Police"

     On March 24th in Cobb County, Georgia, new father Nicholas Thomas was shot and killed by local police officers. The police reported that they "feared for their lives" which lead them to open fire on Thomas, the man they were trying to serve a traffic warrant on. Police reported that they went to arrest Thomas but he tried to run them over, so their only option was to kill him. An interview with the salesclerk of the tire shop the incident took place in front of says differently. She reported that "The car was not moving when they began to shoot at him. The car had been stopped, he hit the curb and could not go any further" and when asked "So no point in making any aggressive moves?" she replied "None, none at all, they immediately opened fire on him".
     This relates to our government class because it shows the continuing discrimination against African-Americans and our local and federal government's response (or lack of) to it. I think it's very obvious that this was an act of discrimination, especially considering the sales persons report.. The officers reported that they "feared for their lives" because they thought that Thomas was going to hit them with his vehicle. This was obviously said to make Thomas appear to be the criminal in the situation. If what the police officers had said was true, why were the bullet holes all on the side of the car, with not one in the front window? The officers reported that he was driving towards them, so wouldn't they have shot from the front? Every 28 hours, a P.O.C. is killed by police officers, I think it's ridiculous that people still hold on to the claims that racial bias has nothing to do with these shootings. But as always, even with undeniable evidence, the officers won't be charged for their crimes and the media along with a large majority of the public will continue to insist racism ended with slavery.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/police-scene-shooting-cobb-county/nkddF/

Blog Post #8

"Obama: Maybe it's Time for Mandatory Voting"

     When asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, Obama suggested making voting mandatory. He explained that a majority of non-voters are American youth, uneducated, and or minorities. He suggested that this "would counteract money more than anything". Aside from the impact it would have on big money in politics, our country has one of the lowest voter turn outs, less then 27%. The article mentions it could have cons but doesn't really specify.

     This relates to government because it involves executive powers and our right to vote (or not vote). I don't know if our government actually has the power to make voting mandatory because it isn't really specified in any amendments. I also think that it's not really too far-fetched, there would be many benefits like a stronger voice for minorities and youth, and more political involvement from everyday citizens. Only 37% of eligible voters actually vote every year and i think we would have a much different turn out if all eligible voters participated, so I would have to say i agree with this idea.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/politics/obama-mandatory-voting/index.html

Blog Post #7

"Alaska Republican's Solution for Homelessness: Wolves"

    Alaskan Republican Representative Don Young has been known to make very "innovative" ideas for solving government issues, such as his claim that domestic violence would be lowered if people simply "drank alone". It is though he made this statement to ridicule his colleagues who had made efforts to protect the grey wolves and to ridicule the Interior Department that makes decisions that would effect specific states without consulting said state first.
    This relates to our government class because it shows an example of someone practicing their freedom of speech. Personally, I think the comment was very insensitive and unnecessary. I think the points he was trying to make could've been made in a more professional matter and this whole conference wouldn't be news damaging his reputation, but no matter what he said, he is protected by the first amendment.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/politics/don-young-proposes-wolves-end-homlesessness/index.html

Blog Post #6

    This article discusses the recent evidence of the shocking racial bias in the police force of Ferguson, Missouri. One of the worst, most reoccurring examples was the excessive use of force, strictly based on race, not actions. In 2012, a 32 year-old African American male was approached by a police officer who accused him of being a pedophile and demanded his social security number and ID, he was then held at gunpoint after he did not allow the officer to search his car. He was given eight charges which were obviously made up such as a citation for "making false statements" when he said his name was Mike instead of his formal name Michael. The man then lost his job because of these charges. African Americans were also given 95% of minor traffic tickets such as "failure to comply" and "manner of walking in roadway" (a suspected source of income for the county). Another shocking piece of evidence was the highly offensive emails sent between officials using extremely racist language and jokes implying African Americans are all criminals and "can't hold a steady job for more than four years". Overall, less than 8% of Ferguson police officers were African American and accounted for 90% of officers use of force.
   This relates to our class because it shows the flaws in our system and incorporates American History to show that racism is still very present in our country. I'm not surprised at the statistics, I feel that the racial bias was pretty obvious after the shooting of Michael Brown and the responses to the protests. I hope that in the not-so distant future more measures will be taken to ensure the equal treatment of all minorities to caucasians


http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/politics/ferguson-justice-report-shocking/index.html

Blog Post #5

"Hillary ​Clinton: Equal pay, problem-solving would be top priorities"

     This article discusses Hilary Clintons recent statements regarding her plans if she were to become president in the 2016 election. Her main focuses involve equal pay between the genders and joining the two parties together in order to accomplish more for our nation. Regarding her statements on equal pay she refers to Patricia Arquette's speech at the oscars on Gender equality and says "In so many ways, our economy still seems to be operating like its 1955,". She gave her opinion on the two competitive parties by stating "I'd like to bring people from right and left, red, blue, get them into a nice, warm, purple space where everybody is talking and where we're actually trying to solve problems. That would be my objective,".
     This relates to our class because it is a good example of the competing parties and the damage it is doing to our progress as a country as Hilary explained. I completely agree with both statements made, I think the two party system has turned our government into a competition and I think it's ridiculous that there still isn't economic equality between the sexes. I also think she should've discussed the wage gap between races in addition to gender, while the gender gap is finally being at least acknowledged, the racial wage gap is being completely ignored.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-equal-pay-problem-solving-would-be-top-priorities/

Blog post #4

"President Barack Obama: 'YOLO man"

     In collaboration with Buzzfeed, President Barack Obama created a video "doing things everyone does but doesn't talk about". The video was to promote to promote his "signature health law", Obama Care. He practiced funny faces in the mirror and tried pronouncing oddly spelled words the way they appear such as Wednesday and February. He also pretended to shoot baskets and when caught deadpanned,  "Can I live?". He also used the famous phrase "Thanks Obama" when dropping his coffee and trying to dunk a cookie in milk that wouldn't fit in the glass. The "relatable" video was an attempt to connect with Americas youth. Several days after the video, Obama made a statement "My advice to a future president is increasingly try to bypass the traditional venues that create divisions and try to find new venues within this new media that are quirkier, less predictable,"
    This relates to our government class because we've discussed politicians self promotion tactics, though they're usually in the form of campaigning. Personally, i think this video was a smart move. I think many politicians are scared of appearing unprofessional and this video is definitely a breakthrough. It's a very smart tactic to reach for the youth because most politicians don't, leaving them very open to anything directed towards them.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/politics/obama-selfies-video-buzzfeed/index.html

Blog Post #3

Federal judge: Alabama judges must issue gay marriage licenses

     The Alabama chief justice continues to decline the Supreme Court's mission to legalize same-sex marriage for his personal belief that marriage should continue to be based off of traditional or biblical standards. The chief justice has ordered the lower courts of Alabama to not follow the federal court's overturning the ban on same-sex marriage. This is difficult for the lower level judges because they are being told by the federal court to allow gay marriage and being told by the Alabama chief justice to not.
      This is related to our government class because it involves the different levels of court and discusses flaws in the judicial system along with discussing controversial political topics (same-sex marriage, abortion, etc.) that we often discuss in class. I think it's awful that even though the ban has been overturned same-sex couples are still unable to be married because of a person's opinions that are only influential because they have political/judicial power. I don't understand how this doesn't count as separation of church and state but I think it's great that we're making progress

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/politics/alabama-gay-marriage-licenses/index.html