Living a "1984" Life!

Let’s imagine that you have just returned home after a long day at work, you have checked your email, turned on the television, ordered pizza and called a friend that had left you a message. While on the phone with your friend you can’t help but glance to the window and notice that there is someone watching you. This person is watching your every move, they know your passwords, they know your friends and overall they know you. In the world that we live in you would simply call the cops and have your deranged stalker arrested, however not many people stop to realize that maybe the stalker is not the only, or even worst, person watching them and their every move.
In this country that we live in rights and freedoms are what set us apart from others. Our country and its citizens have put their trust into the laws that protect us from having our freedoms taken away, however not many notice that their civil liberties are being taken from right under their noses without even a reason most of the time. This invasion of privacy is all due to the Patriot Act, which many don’t even know exists let alone what it is!
45 days after September 11th, President George Bush Jr. signed into law the USA Patriot Act, this act was put into place to help fight the war on terrorism however the only thing it really fights is our right to privacy. The Patriot Act basically gives the government the right to know everything the nation’s citizens do whether terrorist or not. Every email sent, every webpage visited, every time you use a credit card, every time you run a red light and on and on the government knows. So I ask you this, would you rather have the stalker that you can get rid of or the one that you think you can trust but can never rid yourself of? Thanks Mr. President for your protection of my civil liberties!

Agreeing with Dan's: "This is Scary..."

I must say that after reading Dan's "This is Scary..." blog I was in complete agreement. In a world with laws and regulations so tight on the American citizens you wouldn't expect that such a simple problem could arise but it has. In 2000 the US found itself in such a dilemma with vote counting that the Diebold voting machines were created as a solution to that problem. They are suppose to provide the voter with a quicker, easier, more accurate vote however in the end they just present us with yet another problem. Dan points all of this out perfectly.
I also absolutely love the fact that Dan brings to light the simple point that one would think that with the level of ATM security being so high, the machine that helps our votes to somewhat count would definitely be a little more secure. However they are not at all, it turns out someone can hack them in one minute. Wow, I have to agree that absolutely is very scary!!
Ultimately Dan wrote a article to present people with facts on the problems with the Diebold voting machines and ended up hitting the nail right on the head!!


http://danspolitical.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-scary.html

Young's: "Who Will Pay For Bush's Mistakes?"

In the Austin American Statesman, on October 16th, 2007, there was an opinion column written by Mr. John Young of the Waco Tribune-Herald. In this article Mr. Young is pointing again to the CHIP program. I found it only appropriate to use this article to follow my last one due to the fact that they are on the same topic.
Within the article John Young clearly states his opinion on Bush's veto of the bill and almost even on Bush's character as a whole. I found this opinion article to be very interesting even if for only Young's strong opinion. Young goes as far to say that Bush was "acting" during his term as governor in Texas, is a a liar and even almost implies that Bush is a man who never truly thinks ahead to solutions problems that are out there. The only thing that I did notice in this article was Young's refusal to argue with Bush on his declaration that the "tobacco tax is oppressive for working individuals" Young states that he will not argue with bush on this one because, "we should all pay for what our government does, not just smokers". Personally this stood out to me I agree with everything else he is saying but I truly feel that why should all Americans pay for other's habits? I would not ask everyone to help pitch in for my dog food when not everyone even likes dogs. I am not really sure this could all be my personal opinion but I did notice how Young does not agree with Bush on a lot of things however at the end there is a slight bit of relief for our President and then Young finishes it with another attack. The best part of the whole article is the way that Young ends it with his final point that Bush doesn't plan to solve any of our financial problems, he doesn't even have a solution to the problem in Iraq! Although Young obviously has a problem with Bush's veto on expanding CHIP he also brings to light problems with Bush in other areas, and even brings to light the point that the problems we are having with Bush did not just start they were there before just a little hidden. Bush is aparently good at two things acting and messing things up.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/17/1018young_edit.html

Mallaby's: "Bush's Unhealthy Veto"

As the popularity of President Bush’s threat to veto (S.C.H.I.P) State Children’s Health Insurance has grown many different opinions have surfaced on the matter. Within the opinion article I read by Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post, it was very clear what his opinion on the whole thing was, although I would have loved to find an opinion article in which my opinion was not the same as the authors I was unable to.
Mr. Mallaby wrote this article in a great fashion, he showed us the different sides of the story but clearly gave me his strong opinion. I loved how he pointed out the facts on the Presidents actions and gives us a slight peek at what the President’s underlining motive could possibly be. At the beginning of Mallaby’s article he points out that President Bush has not wanted to go against Congress on anything really, but he is passionate about this issue? Before reading this article I strongly was disgusted with the President’s stance on the issue and his threats against S.C.H.I.P, however after reading Mr. Mallaby’s article I was almost infuriated. All of this said because I think that everything Mallaby says and points out is head on.
Our president tries to (and does) waste our country’s money everyday on issues and policies that the nations against, assisting citizens to hate him more, but when an issue that over 1/3 the population agrees with comes up he wants to veto it? However, the climax of Mallaby’s article for me was at the end when he points out that could the President’s sudden change in opinion and action be brought on not because of his profound “philosophical” stance, but nothing more than that of a private initiative to look better. This whole issue is a complete mess all the way around and Wallaby points that out.

Here is a link to the article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001035.html

Bill to Extend Terror Insurance Faces Bush Veto

Clouds of dust filled the air, screams surrounded all those on the streets and the people all throughout the nation gasped at the horrible sight before their eyes. This is September 11th, 2001, the day our nation was attacked and many were left feeling defenseless.
An article today in the New York Times caught my eye, it didn't have anything to do with the most recent scandal or any of our current presidential candidates. This article that I'm talking about had to do with a piece of our history, an event in time that will go in ours and future generation's text books. After the attacks on September 11th 2001, Congress passed the "Terrorism Risk Insurance Act", this was basically a huge "backstop" for insurance claims having to do with acts of terrorism. TRIA was first intended only to be a temporary act that would last from November 26, 2002 to December 31, 2005 (the act was given a two year extension; December 2007) Now that the TRIA is about to expire many are left with the question of "is it really time to let it go, or do we need to extend the expiration date?" This article is very interesting and worth reading because the article is all about how President Bush wants to veto the extension, which could be beneficial to some, and others find themselves with the question, "what if there is an attack and TRIA is no longer in place, then what?" I think that many will find themselves on the fence with this one.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/us/nationalspecial3/18terror.html?_r=1&ref=washington&oref=slogin