For Better or For Worse...

President Obama met with the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan a few days ago to renew their agreement to unite against terrorist groups such as the Taliban and Al Queda. This was a tense meeting because all sides are starting to feel the pressure of war, loss of money and sparseness resources. Even with all the personal problems the US is facing right now, President Obama knew that he couldn't forget about the rest of the world, and he met with both political leaders for an entire day to discuss military and non-military tactics to stop terrorist groups.
Why is this relevant? Because it shows us (AS students) that allies are allies for better or for worse. As much as President Obama would like to focus on the economy and border control, but he knows that foreign relations must be kept up to really get anything done outside of the country. We, as AS students must learn this for our simulation tomorrow. No matter what country we represent, we must keep relations with our allies. In times of crisis, no one can do it themselves. In our simulation, I suspect this will be the same.

Heaven-Sent Angel

Angel Cabrera just won The Masters.

Most people are thinking: "Wait a minute, who?"

In the golfing world, which dominated by the likes of Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickleson, and Tiger Woods, Cabrera is a breath of fresh air. He wasn't born into the game like most of his competitors on the PGA tour. He had to EARN it. Born in Argentina, Angel took up caddying to raise money for his divorced family. He quit school after 6th grade to caddy full time. Angel then found out that he could double his caddy money if he beat the other caddies at golf after their rounds were through. He quickly picked up the game and started to make a name for himself as one of the best golfers in the area. When he turned 16, a member bought him his first set of clubs, and from that point on, Angel never looked back. He went to Europe, joined the European tour and later the PGA tour, and now he has won the US Open and The Masters (two of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world).
Angel rose through the classes and became successful. He grew up a poor caddy in Argentina and is now one of the best golfers in the world. What is separating him from the other poor people in Argentina, or even the rest of the world? I'm sure the 10,000 hour rule comes into effect here. I'm also sure luck plays a factor. However, I mainly believe that he fought his way out of the bottom of the social class. He made money at all costs (no pun intended). He quit school to make money. He started working as a 10 year old to make money. He played in golf tournaments partly because of his love for the game, but also because of the money. Is this what people like Jerry from The Zoo Story need to do to escape their social environment? Is this always possible? The answer, sadly, I believe is no. But if you do succeed, if you rise to the challenge, you just might win what Angel won. Respect from from millions.

Great Expectations... Part II

News flash! President Obama has a 60% approval rating.

We are talking about the president that came into the White House with some of the highest expectations in US history. We are not even 100 days into his presidency, and his approval rating slipped from nearly 67% to 60%. Give the man a break! He has to single-handedly fix our country, and roughly 7% of Americans won't even give him 100 days? Granted, if I could have voted in the past elections, it would have been for John McCain (no, my parents would not have put me up to it) but I realize that it takes time to fix a nation. Usually, presidents are given 4 years to do their job, maybe even 8. But I guess following America's most unpopular president has it's consequences.
True, Obama has made some unpopular decisions about the economy (as FOX put it: "far more left from center). He also hasn't "made Darfur a priority", like he said in his campaign. He hasn't created a colorblind America, like so many of his followers expected he would. We just have to accept the fact that President Obama IS human, and that he has a better plan for the future. Despite unpopular decisions, party affiliations, or unfulfilled promises, he is still our president. We must, as a people, calm down and believe that he is not another George W Bush. We must hope that he will not mess up our country as much as the last president did. However, only time will tell.

Where Does All the Money Go?

Every day, I slip on my worn out Asics shoes, and I go for a quick run. During my run, I think about AS class. The subject of cheap labor came up a couple days ago. I look down a my shoes, and I wonder who made my shoes, and how much they get paid to make such fine running sheos. I decided to find out.
Asics outsources all of their production, so they do not specifically handle the making of their shoes. My shoes were made by someone would could be in one of the numerous sweatshops Asics, use. I have found that these sweat shops often produce competing brand's shoes. For instance, Puma and Nike shoes are often made in the same place. As my source says: "Workers for brands such as...Asics... are still earning poverty wages". There fore I can conclude that the person that made my shoe got an average sweatshop salary for it. Since the Asics Company is based in China, I will turn my search there. I see from a website that the average pay for a sweatshop worker in China is 23 US cents per hour. The living cost is 87 US cents per hour. I can therefore conclude that my shoes were made by a woman (90% of all sweatshop workers are female) and that it cost roughly a few cents to make my shoes. I bought them for 70 dollars. WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

Harsh Working Conditions, Harsh Reality

We like to think that the days of child labor are over. We like to think that the 14 hour work day is finished. We like to think that sweat shops are empty, and that no one shall ever work there again. We like to think these are true, but we couldn't be more wrong.
Sweat shops across the world are actually becoming MORE popular than what they were in the US 70 years ago. They are springing up in places like Brazil, China, and India. These are countries that are known for being highly populated and having a large lower class and a small upper class. These are all descriptors of the US around 70 years ago. Then, just as the working conditions got as bad as they possibly could get, protests broke out, and labor laws, minimum wage, and unions were established. Eventually, the sweat shops disappeared from US soil. However, now they have apparently sprung up in other countries. You can thank gigantic companies (like Nike, Gap, and Apple) for that.
Yes, we like to think that those harsh times are over. We like to think that the world works a 9-5 job. However, we can only make progress if we wake up from this fantasy we are in. We must take greater steps to help other countries in need rather than simply putting our work there. We actually must take our sweatshops out of foreign countries in order to help them. We have to use charity to help these people, not 14 hour days in a cramped room.

Banned Books Begone!

 All Quiet on the Western Front, Animal Farm, The Da Vinci Code, The Grapes of Wrath, and Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

What do all of these books have in common besides being highly acclaimed? They were all banned. Sure, they all deal with touchy subjects such as race, religion, and politics; but isn't that what makes them great? Should Huckleberry Finn be added to this list?

 Lets take All Quiet on the Western Front, for instance. I was required to read that book in the eighth grade. It was to much of my surprise when I found out that it had been banned. I was stunned: "There must be other books that dehumanize war" I thought. After some research, it didn't surprise me that it was Nazi Germany who banned it.

Next, lets find out why Animal Farm was banned. It deals with the fall of Socialism in communist Russia. Its not to hard to figure out why the USSR banned it. 

The Da Vinci Code. Even in the United States, a land that was based on the ideal of freedom of speech, is this work scrutinized. I can remember turning on CNN a few years ago and watching Christian Priests denounce Dan Brown. However, the actual banning of the book took place in Lebanon, where the Christian leaders deemed it offensive to their religion.

Why was The Grapes of Wrath banned and burned in California? It "made the residents of this region look bad" (same link as above).

As for Uncle Tom's Cabin, lets just say that the future Confederate States of America didn't like the idea of a Pro-Abolition story narrated by a slave.

Now I will ask you one more question: What do all of these explanations for the banning of books have in common? They all challenge the popular belief of their time. Or, at least, the authority's belief. Huckleberry Finn definitely challenges the authority of it's time. The book should be mentioned in the same breath as All Quiet on the Western front or Uncle Tom's Cabin, but it shouldn't be banned. None of these books should have been. I believe in freedom of speech and the ability to challenge popular belief. Should a radio personality be taken off the air because of a negative comment about the Rutgers Basketball team? Should "French Fries" be called "Freedom Fries" because of political disagreements? Of course not! While censorship may be needed for decency (like a certain Super Bowl Half Time scandal) it is not needed for hiding opinions. After all, a wise man named Mark Twain once wrote: "Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them".

Romanticism in the NFL

TRUE fans don't sleep the night before the NFL draft. They clutch their pillows, turn on the night light and cry like babies in the fear that their favorite NFL team will not choose the right college superstar. They live in fear of the "Ki-Jana Carter" pick of 1995. They dream of the "Payton Manning" pick of 1998. They anxiously await for Tim Tebow to graduate in 2010. TRUE fans know who to take in the first, second, and last round of the draft. Even if they end up Ryan Leaf (never heard of him? Exactly.)
Come on sports fans! If anything, NFL history has taught us that your ranking in the draft means nothing. Ray Lewis got drafted as the 26th pick in the first round. I can think of plenty of teams that need him right now (like the Detroit LetDowns, I mean, Lions). The hype of the NFL draft is simply too much. People live and die on these choices, yet they rarely make much of a difference. ESPN dedicates it's entire day of programming to the NFL draft. Granted, Payton and Eli Manning did go as first-round picks, but do you know who else did? Akili Smith and Mike Junkin (irony included in their names). The draft gets so romanticised that people hang on every moment it and go to bed feeling like their sky has fallen. We, as human beings, need to step back and realize that the draft is simply an event. The only thing that matters is the score of the game. All TRUE fans know that.

(The picture is of the all-time bust of a draft pick, Ki-Jana Carter)