Energy Cuts....!?!??!?

From an article in the Christian Science Monitor from May 31, it's proven that President Bush wants to try and find a new way to power cars. Hydrogen cars, hybrid cars...you name them, he wants to try them. However, wanting to start all these energy-conserving programs is one thing..paying for them? Well, that's another.

From what Christina Kielich states in an email, "Tough choices had to be made, and we had to realign priorities." Bush's "tough choice" equaled cutting 16% of the energy program budgets next year, which ends up being $152 million. Many disappointed members of the associations, such as William Prindle, agree that "This is the worst time to be cutting these programs".

During the 1970s, another energy crisis emerged; rather than cutting programs, gasoline was cut. Many people had to get gas on selected days of the week, and many new programs to conserve energy costs were initiated. Programs like the ones from thirty years ago definitely should be reconsidered, just in case they are necessary in the future.

US & Vietnam Sign Trade Pact

An article in the New York Times on Wednesday, May 31 stated that the two countries have decided to knock down trade barriers that remained. This new trade agreement would allow for American companies to gain greater access to Southeast Asia's market; it also allows for Vietnam to become part of the global trading body before the country hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi in November 2006, which President George W. Bush is supposed to attend.

The agreement's ceremony was held at the Reunification Palace. Thirty years prior to the creation of the new trade pact, Communist tanks barreled through the Reunification Palace in order to successfully end the Vietnam War. Now, rather than a symbol of war, the Reunification Palace has become a symbol of peace.

Jefferson Caught In The Act!!

Representative William J. Jefferson, who is a Democratic Representative in the U.S., was caught in the act of accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from a Northern Virginia investor who was wearing an FBI wire, according to a search warrant affidavit released yesterday. Jefferson was also caught on camera taking this money from the investor. Afterwards, FBI agents raided Jefferson's home in Northeast Washington and found $90,000 of cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers. The FBI then raided Jefferson's Capitol Hill office, with permission from an 83-page affidavit, which portrays Jefferson as "a money-hungry man who freely solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, discussed payoffs to African officials, had a history of involvement in numerous bribery schemes and used his family to hide his interest in high-tech business ventures he promoted in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria". Jefferson talked with Mody, an investor, about corrupt bribes and illegal actions, and said, "All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking as if the FBI is watching." Who knew he was right on the money. This gave the FBI what it needed, and FBI agents, wearing suits, later entered Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building about 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, and left at about 1 p.m. Sunday. Authorities said it was the first time the FBI had raided a sitting congressman's office. Jefferson continues to say that he has never accepted a bribe, but his secretary declined this comment. Jefferson was being bribed in order to promote iGate in Africa, to help the business prosper. It is just ashame that a man in his position is involved in this activity.
Relating to American history, many forms of bribery and corruption has occured involving politicians and rich businessmen. For example, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, many men, such as Boss Tweed, paid and controlled people to gain their votes, and to gain power, through his political machine. Also, many politicians and the Senate were controlled and led by trusts and rich businessmen. Sadly, corruption in government will never end.

Intelligent Design Arguments

An article from February 13, 2006 contained a story about the debate of teaching intelligent design in school. During the month of February, the School Board of Ohio decided to examine the teaching of intelligent desgin in Ohio's public schools. They felt that a certain lesson plan from a biology class was trying to teach intelligent design, and want to put a stop to it. This case in Ohio is only one of many fights against the teaching of intelligent design, happening all over the United States. The most well-known cases occured in California, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. In Wisconsin especially, a ban was proposed on teaching intelligent design altogether, which was the first such proposal ever. The School Board of Ohio is having an even harder time working on this decision, because it is being pressured by outside presences and anti-intelligent design groups. Also, polls taken by the people of the state of Ohio are affecting the state's decisions, because the people are saying that schools should teach that evolution is incorrect, and that it should be a choice of the students to learn intelligent design. In past years in Ohio, this argument has risen several times, but was never resolved. In the early 2000's, a plan was desgined to teach both evolution and intelligent design, but it failed. Later, the school board had an emergency meeting, which stopped the teaching of the lesson, and took a "critical analysis" approach to teach. At this February meeting, the state considered ending the lesson of intelligent design completely, including "critical analysis".
This event is almost a perfect parallel to another event in American history, known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial". During 1925, a school teacher in Tennessee decided to teach evolution to his class, which was against the law in the state of Tennessee. Scopes was sued, and the case was brought to the Supreme Court. The case became known throughout the country, and the famous William Jennings Bryant worked the case against Scopes. The case determined that it was unlawful to teach evolution, so Scopes was found guilty, and the case was over. But, the argument over evolution in schools did not stop there.

Illegal Teen Faces Deportation

oThe events involving illegal immigration have been making headlines in the news for quite a while. Recently, Manuel Bartsch, a teenager who arrived in the United States in 1997 from Germany, has been one of the central attentions in the controversy. Like many 18-year-olds, Bartsch has dreamed of graduating from his high school in Ohio and attending college in order of becoming a successful person in life. Plans, however, did not go as he intended.

Bartsch has been living with his step-grandfather, an American citizen, who arranged for Manuel's coming into the country following the death of his grandmother in Germany, who was his legal gardian. He had also suffered a difficult childhood with his alcoholic mother. There was a huge problem, however. Manuel's step-grandfather never legally adopted Manuel, who had only come to the country on a temporary visa. According to the news, Manuel never truly knew that he was considered an illegal immigrant until a meeting with his local immigration office, where he was arrested and kept in jail for about 2 weeks. He now faces deportation.

Manuel Bartsch has been receiving a lot of support from friends, teachers, and even the Ohio Senator Mike DeWine. DeWine has pushed for a change in Manuel's status in the U.S. saying: "Through no fault of his own, Manuel is not a legal resident of the United States. Had his step-grandfather adopted him, Manuel would be an American citizen today. And, if his step-grandfather had moved to legalize Manuel's status at some point before he turned 18, he would not be subject to deportation today." Other politicians have also joined in Bartsch's defense.

Immigration has been a controversy in the United States for quite a long time. From the Great Migration in the 1630's to today, it seems to be a problem that cannot be solved. An attempt of solving part of the "immigration problem" occured in 1882, when President Chester Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which closed American doors to Chinese immigrants for about 10 years. This act, however, did not fully stop the influx. It was renewed in 1902 and not until 1943 was if finally removed.

NRA makes demands.

According to the Washington Post, the NRA called on all police chiefs in Milwaukee to sign a pledge on Thursday, stating that they will not disarm law-abiding citizens. In the wake of the scare of Katrina in New Orleans, police confiscated guns from evacuees and removed them from some homes. The police defended themselves by saying that they took only stolen or abandoned weapons. In April, the police began returning weapons after being sued by the NRA. The NRA claimed the police took away people's means of protection amid the lawlessness that was looming in the storm's aftermath.

The National Rifle Association, or the NRA, is a group that was established for the protection of gun rights in 1871 in New York. Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association. The first NRA president was Ambrose E. Burnside, a commander of the Army of Potomac. Former President Ulysses S. Grant was elected president of the National Rifle Association in 1883. In its lobbying for gun rights, the NRA asserts that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individuals to own and use guns. It also lobbies for hunting rights, shooting ranges, and firearm safety training courses. It describes itself as the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the U.S. Today, the organization stands with approximately 3.4 million members.