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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Extra Credit

There are a series of articles linked below.  You get extra credit for EACH ONE, you analyze/argue.

Drones in the United States?

Texas Secession?

How the US can once again define the future

Who is Grover Norquist and what does he have to do with the "fiscal cliff?"

Benghazi and Susan Rice

11 comments:

  1. In the article "Texas Secession" I find it surprising at how fast the petition was sign. As i read the article all I thought about was how difficult it was for the U.S government to grow into what it is today, and how hard it will be for Texas to have a start like that. Living in Texas it is a very scary thought to suddenly be a citizen of the country of Texas and all the new regulations it will start. If Texas does succeed to get out of the U.S it will be a very controversial thing as it will mean many obvious changes between the 2 countries. I see this as a a caprice kind of like a little child asking for attention. I also believe that this will not take place anytime soon because the U.S cannot be dealing with our national debt and a secession of one of their biggest state at the same time and will most likely be set aside.

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  2. In the "Drones in the U.S" article it is discussed whether or not drones used would affect our privacy> Personally I think it will and should, but since it has helped to rescue lost people and in natural disasters I think the drones should only be used by the army and national guard in critical situations not in a way of leisure for police or universities.

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  3. The Drones in the United States article gave various facts and opinions regarding using unmanned drones over America. I personally believe it would be a good idea in rural areas and hiking trails right now, however using drones in urban environments seems unsafe since there is no way to prevent collisions. Hopefully in the future anti-collision technology can be integrated into the drones for maximum safety and effectiveness.

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  4. Texas has passed 25,000 signatures on it's petition to secede from the union which means it needs to be reviewed by the white house staff and given an official response. At the moment it has reached over 118,000 signatures. The petition has strong support, but constitutionally under no circumstances can any state secede from the union. The White House will say that Texas cannot secede and I believe those calling for the secession will continue to ignore the fact that secession is unconstitutional and keep trying to push toward leaving the union.

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  5. Norquist founded the Americans for Tax Reform which advocates cutting government spending and oppose tax raising. The Americans for Tax reform have a Taxpayer Protection Pledge where legislators swear to oppose tax increases. Norquist is pretty much forcing anyone who's with the Americans for Tax Reform to oppose President Obama's plans to raise taxes on the wealthy, and making an agreement on the subject of the fiscal cliff more difficult.

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  6. Susan Rice the Ambassador to the United Nations gave inaccurate statements regarding the Benghazi attacks to the public. Republicans hounded her for the statements and began talks of a Democrat cover up of the attack. The article explains how details can be inaccurate when the site happens halfway around the world in a town as chaotic as Benghazi. I have no opinion right now because depending on how biased the source is the interpretation varies greatly.

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  7. The article talking about the United States as defining the future talks about the country's current problems and those that will plague the country in the near future. The article offers several hypothetical solutions and fixes to these problems. One thing I can agree with is the need to fix our country's infrastructure and the need to address global warming and climate changes.

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  8. In the "Drones in America" article I personally believe that it would be a good idea; However, do I believe that they should use them in Urban areas? No. As it said in the article, they are prone to collide into other drones and since cities are populated; we don't want any accidents. But we could definitely use them in rural areas to find lost hikers, observe crops, and they are cheaper than piloted planes and helicopters. But they also limit our privacy, which is against our 4th amendment that "governs when,where and how the government can gather information on an individual."

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  9. In the "Texas Succession" article it goes on to talk about how Texas residents have signed a petition to secede from the Union and they have gotten more than 25,000 signatures and so now White House staff will give it a look and decide what to do from then on. If Texas wants to secede, then let it. We have a stable economy and a good budget so economy wise we will be fine. But it seems as if we are leaving the Union in one of its most needed, most desperate times, and that's not cool. It will take a long time to create our own Republic and especially a new government if we do secede. But I believe that we have the opportunity to do it and the country will probably agree upon us to secede, but they will try at all costs to persuade us not to.

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  10. In the article "Drones in the United States" talks about aircraft and their opinions and concerns over drones being used by police departments,universities and private corporations. they all seek to use drones that range from devices the size of a hummingbird to full-sized aircraft like those used by the U.S. military. I believe that drones themselves should only be used in rural areas because elsewhere can cause a a high risk of some sort of collision.

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  11. Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative libertarian activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. “We have a spending problem, not a failure to raise taxes problem,” Norquist said. Norquist seems to play a part of the fiscal cliff mostly as he states that "Republicans should insist on both comprehensive tax reform and a one-year extension of all the Bush tax cuts". Also landscape is shifting for Boehner and Norquist, as more and more Republicans have signaled a willingness to let taxes go up on some Americans as part of a fiscal cliff deal.

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