The Media Has Their Influence...

With the  issues that are going in Wisconsin, the media has taken a huge role as to how they want to deliver the message.  I believe that the media are making the citizens take upon the hero rule because the citizens are trying to save their state from something that can be greater/bigger than them.  They are making the government look as though they are the villains because they are trying to hurt the citizens with the new law they are trying to impose upon the citizens.  The media also at time make the citizens look like the villains because a reporter will come across angry protesters and portray them as being violent.  With that being said, I feel as though the media has unfairly cast the villains title upon the citizens because the media are showing them in a bad light as they protest.  They portray the citizens of Wisconsin to be ruthless and uncontrollable.  

First Amendment

Many people have their strong beliefs and views about the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech.  There are people who believe that they are fully entitled to their right and that they can say whatever they want and do it wherever they please.  There are also those individuals that believe in freedom of speech, yet they believe that there is an unspoken rule as to when certain remarks and protests are immoral depending on when or where it has been presented .  With that being said...does that mean that those individuals are somewhat contradicting themselves when they say that they believe in the First Amendment?
In the Westboro Baptist Church case, I will have to say that I am with the second group of individuals that i  had mentioned in the previous paragraph.  The members of the church presented an well unwanted protest outside of a funeral.  The protest was held directly across the street form the funeral.  I feel as if we are all entitled to our First Amendment, but I also feel like we should have a common courtesy to those that are having a difficult time grieving with the loss of a loved one.  If people were to de4cide to protest outside of one of my family member's funeral, my family would literally kill off the entire protest party.  All of the protesters will be shot dead. I do believe in freedom of speech, but i also believe that people should have a natural common courtesy

State Workers Angry About a Proposed Change to Their Union Rights

In Wisconsin, the sate government is trying to minimize the debt by charging it to the working class.  After all of the financial gain that the union has accomplished over the years, the state is trying to take back collective bargaining, trying to make the workers pay more money for their health insurance, and getting rid of some teachers in which they feel are not 'best fit' for their job.  They are doing anything they can think of, or anything possible to minimize the deficit.  This is falling back on the working class citizens.  It is to be said that the union has the pay scale so high for the government employees, that the state cannot afford to pay them, but the union workers believe that the government can cut back on some entities to continue to pay them.  The state says that the government employees are making way more money than anyone in the private sector.  Basically, they just want it to be a fair playing field for the the government workers, versus private employees.  The state is trying to break the union.  The Democrats feud the union, and by Wisconsin having a Republican controlled house, they are ultimately trying to minimize the union power.  Wisconsin's issue has gone nationwide...Columbus, Ohio had angry protesters, protesting about a senate bill that would limit collective bargaining rights.  Ohio faces an $8,000,000,000 short fall.  If other states see that protesting is indeed effective, then this will continue to go nationwide.

THE ARAB REVOLUTION - DOMINO EFFECT

What's Goin' on in the Middle East

Egypt is one of the largest countries in the Middle East.  The Egyptians' were able to have an influence on making their long-term president step down.  With that being said, other smaller countries will feed off of what the Egyptians did to better their country if they feel it is necessary to do so; this will cause a domino effect. Other countries will look at Egypt's situation and see what all they can learn from it and what all they might need to modify to make it more effective for their desired goal.  Countries will begin to feed off of other countries energy and try to accomplish what they have if they do not like what's going on in their own country.  I refuse to believe that everything that is going on in the Middle East is "just happening".  I believe that people analyze other countries situations and see what they could do, or do differently to make a difference within their own country.  The media is also adding fuel to the fire because other countries can actually see what's  going on by watching the news, reading about it, hearing about it on the radio, or just by seeing it when they get on the internet.  Everything that is delivered via media can encourage and or influence other countries to make the decisions that they make.  I do agree with Glenn Beck when he said that the US are hypocrites and that's why the Middle East hates us. The States say that we believe in freedom, but yet we supported Mubarak in his dictatorship to a certain extent.

What's Really Goin' on in Egypt?

I think that the U.S role is to stay out of Egypt's political affairs.  The media seems as if they are following all of the protestors and all the commotion that the protestors are stirring up.  The media to me, seems as if they are not focusing a lot on President Mubarak, but they are focusing on the protestors that are fighting to get  Mubarak out of office now and not on Mubarak's terms. The Egyptians do not want the U.S to get involved and they have asked the U.S government to stay out of it and that they can handle their issues without the U.S.


At this point in the rebellion, Mubarak and his supporters have been quite civil.  There has also been no proof that says Mubarak has injured anyone.  He appears to be rather sincere in my opinion.  In his public speech he said that he will die in Egypt, "his home".  Mubarak knows that today's technology is too advanced to where it will be almost impossible to hide any of alleged abuse of his citizens.  It is also known that other fractions are creating problems on the streets of Egypt.  

It appears that the media networks that favor President Obama, shows Egypt's cries in a good light.  The anti-Obama media shows the Egyptian's cries in a bad light and as something horrible.  Obama respects the will of the Egyptian government and its people.  The U.S media feeds off of drama. They might hype it up by to boost their ratings and magazines and newspapers use it as well in a sense of "juicy, yet informative  gossip".

Budget Debate

This thing we call the budget debate...what does it really mean to me?  Well to be honest I think that all students will be getting the short end of the stick.  The United States has a large deficit and several issues we are dealing with are very hard to dodge.  I honestly think that if the government will stop putting so much money into the war, then that alone would help with government spending.  Most Americans do not even think that they are living in wartime unless you bring the topic up to them.  The government is putting so much money into a war that most Americans forget about because the media doesn't discuss it.

I am a student, and with that being said, this budget debate means a lot to me.  Even though I am currently on an athletic scholarship through the University of Houston; I cant help but to wonder what it will be like for me financially when I try to pay for my masters degree.  The government's money is so tight right now that eventually the grants, loans and financial aid will all come to a minimum.  Many students will have a hard time trying to pay their way through school. Tuition will also go up and that will not only make the situation harder for students, but it will also put  more students in debt, from trying to pay their way through school, and also the graduate percentage rate will begin to fall.

The government will also not have enough money to fix the roads and highways.  In some places, this can be really crucial...for an example Cullen Boulevard.  I think that the government needs to really sit back and take a look at how they are spending our money.  The government has been building businesses  outside of our country because it is cheaper to pay the workers outside of the states whereas paying an American..let's say 15 dollars an hour.  That has hurt our country because other countries are  building up off of the US dollar while the Americans are having troubles trying to find a job within their own home land.  The richer will continue to get richer and the poorer will continue to get poorer.  We need to bring some of those jobs back to The US so that people can find jobs, so that those will not have to rely on welfare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTMrs9vpoqg

Update from The House: State of the state speech begins budget debate | SCNOW