Orphans

Orphans are children who were abandoned by their parents at childhood, or at any point of their young lives. Having no sense of family at a young age really destroys the foundation of living for an individual. Which is why this issue is our main focus for our service learning projects. We plan to give optimistic talks to these orphans and give them hope for the future, despite their lack of root, connection, and belonging. 

"Orphans are relatively rare in developed countries, as most children can expect both of their parents to survive their childhood. Much higher numbers of orphans exist in war-torn nations such as Afghanistan"

Orphans can be uplifted from their depressed situation, as long as their is someone there to remind them that there is a better future ahead of them if they don't let themselves get carried away by their sadness.In the worst cases, orphanages can be dangerous and unregulated places where children are subject to abuse and neglect. Orphans are educated within their orphanage institution. Orphans are released from orphanage care when they are 18 years of age. After that, it is up to them to tend for themselves. Notable orphans include world leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Andrew Jackson, and even the prophet Muhammad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan

Liberal me

Based on the Typology test, I am LIBERAL, also known as the modern day hippie. Liberals make up 17% of the American public. Liberals are Predominantly white (83%), most highly educated group (49% have a college degree or more), and youngest group after Bystanders. They also are also the wealthiest of the  democratic group. My Ideological group tends to fight for the welfare of others, especially towards minorities. They are the most opposed to an assertive foreign policy, and take the most liberal views on social issues such as homosexuality, abortion, and censorship.  They believe in peaceful diplomacy rather than war and violence and they are huge advocates for protecting the environment. Liberals believe in the right to choose or deny abortion and they do not criticize against anyone's sexual orientation; they support gays, and believe that they should have the same rights as anyone else protected in the constitution. However, they generally do not involve themselves in religious activity. This is the part that doesn't correspond with me; maybe I'm a religious liberal...sounds more like an oxymoron than a realistic statement. But anyways, Liberals are most sympathetic of any group to immigrants as well as labor unions, and most opposed to the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. 

Tagger injunctions Next???

LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanic is planing to create tagger injunctions, after proposing it for gang members. In my opinion, this plan just goes overboard due to the fact that taggers don't even need to do anything illegal to be arrested!

Trutanic states,"If you want to tag, be prepared to go to jail. And I don't have to catch you tagging. I can just catch you . . . with your homeboys."

Like gang injunctions, it causes racial profiling and an invasion of privacy. How would police know who the taggers are? Are they going to search every person's belongings to look for any tagging materials?

In my opinion, this enforcement is just a way for authorities to scare taggers away and prevent them from tagging on public or private properties. Who would tag on a place where it is police enforced or within a radius of an authority.

Overall, I oppose this new idea of tagger injunctions because it's not worth it to spend a great amount of money on an issue that is not as damaging as gang activity, especially during US's economic crisis.

Gang Injunctions

Gangs and violence has always been in inevitable existence since society began. It is almost impossible to completely get rid of it. However, that doesn't mean that we cannot create ways to appease it or improve safety for those affected by gang violence. Therefore, rules, regulations, and laws are essential, along with the enforcement of it.

Recently, a proposal for gang injunctions has been made by Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanic, specifically a mile radius from Fremont Highschool. Basically, this enforcement makes it illegal for gang members to be together as a group or duo. Brown and Trutanic believes that it will seize, although not completely, gang affiliations and/or violence around the Fremont area.

In my opinion, I think this is a great step towards protecting innocent people who follow the rules of the society and maintain a balanced peace. Even though gangs cannot be completely eliminated, this type of enforcement can reduce crimes, injuries, or nuissance that gangs provoke.

On the contrary, the negative effects of gang injunctions is that it triggers racial profiling. Authorities are most likely to arrest a group of young people who wear a gang attire, but might not be gang members, than a person wearing a more formal clothing, but might be a gangster.
Overall, it is hard to distinguish gangsters from innocent people based on their appearance.

Nonetheless, I support the idea of gang injunctions, and statistics will prove whether it is significantly useful or unecessary.

US no Longer the Superpower

You know how the US has been in an economic turmoil since early 2008? Well, just to add insult to injury, US has lost its title of world's superpower and knocked down to second place. Switzerland now has the world's most competitive economy.

The crash of the US Bank and the need for financial circulation caused this economic downfall because of its huge investments in banks. Consequently, budget cuts were made to different industries, such as business corporations, which caused unemployment rates to an increasingly high amount. With many people without jobs, business failed because of decreasing abundance of consumers. Without consumers, the economy wouldn't produce sufficient amounts of money.

I think the nation needs to put their differences aside because we have a great new president leading us. Obama should come up with a job stimulus so that unemployment rates will decrease on a significant level. This way, the economy can pick itself up and start functioning again. Moreover, the distribution of wealth needs to even out, mostly for the middle class, who are the nation's major consumers. The rich who take up most of the nation's wealth need to donate to the lower class, or organizations that help uplift those who are suffering from US's economy.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/09/switzerland_tops_us_for_first.html

Obama's Speech to school children criticized

President Obama's inspiring speech to school children is under attack by complete ignorance of some people.

In an excerpt from Obama's speech, he exclaims:

"At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world," Obama said. "And none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities."

Obama also remarks[if they(students) quit in school], "you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country."

Basically, Obama is emphasizing the fact that the hard work of teachers won't show in students unless they[students] actually spend the necessary time in school. Therefore, he is encouraging school children to STAY IN SCHOOL and put effort in it. However, much contraversies within conservative organizations have arised with Obama's speech, claiming that it is too harsh for "local-education setting."

In my opinion, Obama is speaking hard truth. The truth might be harsh for some, but it is a necessary factor in life. It must be spoken.

"Conservatives have urged schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to promote a political agenda."

How can anyone oppose an enlightenly honest speech that could possibly broaden the minds of the future leaders of the world, and even accuse Obama of using it as a political strategy?

I think this speech would be useful in schools that host low-income students whose in dire need of some inspiration. I know some students in my school who are the first to go to college in their families or are hesitant to further their studies because they pessimistic and unsure of their futures. Imagine what Obama's speech could influence in these students. His Speech is the type of mind-opening truth that will inspire many struggling students out there.







http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090907/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_school_speech

Health care can careless about Health.

These passed couple of the days I've been hearing all sorts of criticism on President Obama's plan for Health care. Health is quite hard to manipulate because there are a lot of manipulators, such as greedy medical practitioners and corrupt insurance companies. Doctors prescribe useless medication and unnecessary visits to their patients just to gain more money. Hence, as the cost of health care rises, it seems like only those who get it for free or aided, such as low-income families and those who don't pay taxes, could afford it.

"Working families are experiencing double-digit increases in the costs of health insurance, more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and skyrocketing prices for prescriptions, forcing many to delay getting needed medical care or worse—to decline coverage for themselves or their families because of cost. Health care costs are rising at five times the rate of inflation."(2009 AFL-CIO "What's Wrong with America's Health Care ")

It seems like Middle class, working families, who do pay taxes, are the one's that are being mostly drained of health care benefits. Imagine a middle class family with five to six children who don't have health insurance because it's too expensive to afford?

"The U.S. system of providing health care coverage is employer-based."(2009 AFL-CIO "What's Wrong with America's Health Care ")

Another issue with health care is that employers do not give a fair share of coverage with their employees. This results in a pool of employees with families who don't have insurance or insurance that could barely cover all their needs. These days numerous people simply coerced to live without health insurance because of it's overpowering costs. In my opinion, the health of the people must be on top of the list of President Obama's agenda. People are consumers; consumers generate the economy; the economy controls the main function of the country.



http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/whatswrong/