Is Obama Noble enough for a Nobel Peace Prize?

There are, of course, two sides to this argument. One side is that Obama did not deserve to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his “efforts” in resolving the nuclear crisis in Iran. This side feels that Obama has not accomplished anything major and therefore should not yet be honored along with presidents such as Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter. This is the point of view that Keegan Jorgensen shares. He posted an opinion article on his blog site http://keeganjsoc.blogspot.com/ stating that President Obama should not have been awarded anything just yet.

The other side of the argument is that Obama has greatly influenced the world just by being a public figure and that he should be honored for capturing the attention of so many people. He is a great diplomat and public speaker and he has been apart of many decision making processes. In other words, Obama should be recognized and awarded for his vision.

I tend to agree with Keegan. President Obama may have a vision but he has not done anything with that vision in the short 10 months that he has been president that could qualify him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Of course, this is already done and over with, the prize has been awarded, and there is nothing that anyone can do to change that. I’m hoping that maybe Obama will take this high honor as a humbling experience. He should see that so many people are looking to him for answers and that, to live up to his own standards, he must now walk the walk because he has definitely talked the talk.


Article Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/09/miller.obama.prize.doubts/index.html

http://keeganjsoc.blogspot.com/

Picture Source:

http://hisvorpal.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/ap-sues-fairey-shows-how-to-lie-with-picture/

It’s a Bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s a boy in balloon!

Or is it just a balloon?

As millions of people all over the world watched Richard Heene’s weather balloon float across Colorado skies on Thursday, October 19, everyone expected Richard and Mayumi’s son, Falcon, to be on board the craft. After hours of searching for and capturing the balloon, authorities found that the boy was not inside the balloon at all. He was in the garage attic of his own home. Everyone is very relieved that he is safe but, after some investigation, the possibility that this was an elaborate hoax seems probable. The family had already been on reality TV before, the boy made a comment in an interview that could prove as evidence to support the hoax theory, the father may have already had plans to perform a hoax with a weather balloon, and the balloon could not have lifted with Falcon inside. I believe that the boy in the balloon story was a serious cry for attention.

The first piece of evidence against them is that the Heene family was used to being on reality TV. They participated in the show Wife Swap, which is on ABC, and enjoyed being in the spotlight enough to propose an idea to TLC for a new reality show, which TLC denied. The Heenes liked to be on TV.

The second suspicious item is a quote from Falcon Heene, the boy who was supposedly in the balloon. It is taken from an interview with CNN’s “Larry King Live” the evening following the incident. Mr. Heene asked his son why he hid in the attic even when he could hear people calling his name, when everyone was looking for him. To this question, the six year old answered, "You guys said we did this for the show." No one is really sure what this answer means exactly but I think it points towards the possibility of a staged performance by the parents.

Another strange thought to ponder is a quote from a man named Robert Thomas who wrote an article about Richard Heene for Gawker.com, a gossip website. Mr. Heene chases storms and records his chasing on video. He is sort of like a meteorologist but his schooling goes no farther than a high school diploma. Thomas stated that, in a conversation with Heene about the Roswell UFO incident, Heene said that it would be easy to create "a media stunt that would be equally profound as Roswell, and we could do so with nothing more than a weather balloon and some controversy." Of course, this is just he-said/ he-said but it’s something to think about.

The final evidence that leads me to believe this was a hoax is that the weather balloon that supposedly took off with the boy inside it could not have left the ground. The dimensions of the balloon that Mr. Heene gave the police showed that a 37 pound boy could have floated along easily but when the actual balloon was measured, it was not big enough to carry Falcon. The balloon could not have gotten loose if the boy was inside it because the boy was too heavy and Mr. Heen lied about it by presenting false information to the authorities. I think it is possible that Mr. Heen knew all along that the boy was not inside the weather balloon.

I truly believe that because the Heene family liked attention from cameras, the little boy said the were doing this “for the show,” there may have been premeditation, and the boy was not in the balloon when it took off, that this whole situation was planned to attract worldwide attention. It worked.

Article Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/19/balloon.boy.investigation/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/18/colorado.balloon.vessel/index.html

Picture (showing Richard and Falcon Heene and the weather balloon)Source:

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b149523_balloon_boy_busted.html

Social Security and the Federal Budget

Social Security is a program, funded by American tax dollars, that benefits retirees and the disabled. It is an entitlement program because any person who qualifies is entitled to the program. It was established in 1935 to protect Americans, especially those not able to work, from poverty. But with the growing national debt (currently at $8.8 trillion) it is predicted that Social Security may face some serious problems. And with the Baby Boomer generation, the generation of Americans born after WWII, reaching retirement, there aren’t enough working Americans paying Social Security taxes to cover those retiring. By as early as 2017 the government will have to be spending more on Social Security benefits than it receives from income taxes. And the government actually owes the Social Security program. It used some of that specific tax money to pay for the other programs in the Federal Budget. America is in so much debt all the way around, there is no way that Social Security will continue to benefit anyone unless changes occur. But what kinds of changes are necessary? In 2005, President George W. Bush proposed a plan for Americans to have the option of investing in private accounts rather than pay for Social Security. Many people support this idea because they feel Social Security cannot be trusted anymore. But many people disagree with this idea because they feel that the Social Security program is strong enough to take a hit and if they just make small changes, like raising the income tax and/or the retirement age, then everything will be okay.

I think that the Social Security program isn’t the problem. It’s the government that keeps taking money from the program to pay for its debt in other matters that is truly the problem. Because of this, I believe that Americans should have the choice to stop paying taxes to Social Security and put their money into their own private investment funds. This way, they are keeping track of their own money if they would like. Americans would still be paying taxes and hopefully helping the government recover from its debt but no one would be forced to give money to a program that might never pay them back. I think that, in this particular case, Americans have the right to keep track of their own retirement money. President Bush pushed this idea for awhile but eventually dropped it when he could not find enough support. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush) I think that it should be given a second look. Social Security will not survive if major changes are not made. President Bush felt that this idea of private investment funds should have at least been considered in more detail and I agree.

Blog Sites with more information on the Federal Budget and National Debt:

Spending What We Can Afford http://erintakle.blogspot.com/

War Dollars http://backstroker321.blogspot.com/


Picture Source:

http://afpmo.net/index.php?id=648&state=co

Finding a Middle Ground in Health Care

The proposal for health care reform that has been presented and supported by Democrats goes something like this: The government itself will have a health care program called the “Public Option.” This way, one can choose between the government or a private health care company. They believe that this will provide competition with the private companies and bring the cost of health care down.

The Republican view is that a “Public Option” will eventually lead to total government control of all health care and this will take away a person’s freedom of choice when it comes to which doctor to see and what kind of health care they need. Many Republicans believe that the United States should stick with private insurance companies.

I think that the best solution is somewhere in the middle. The government should not be totally responsible for our health care but should put strict limits on private companies. They should come up with the rules and make sure that the companies stick to those rules. This way, the government doesn’t take total control but private companies are not aloud to take advantage of their patients.

One of the main focuses of health care reform is money. If the amount of money that can be spent by a company and the price that someone will pay for a medical service are controlled by an outside party, then costs and spending can come down. Also, there would no longer be strange and loop-holed policies made up by the people that profit from exploiting other people. And patients would still have choices between companies and doctors and all of that. Money would be less of an issue and people could still be comfortable with trusting their health care to the company that they choose.

To me, the best solution to our health care crisis is to compromise and find a middle ground. That is the way our country’s politics has always been, two ideas from two different sides coming together and finding a resolution. So find it already, geez.

Article Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/29/senate.public.option/index.html?eref=rss_politics

Picture Source:

http://schizoamerica.com/2009/03/us-healthcare-system-is-a-global-liability-still-repubs-call-any-changes-socialism/