The Canidates and the Bailout

On Bailout, Candidates Were Surely Themselves by Patrick Healy of the New York Times

As both candidates went back to Capital Hill for negations on a economic bail out bill we've seen actions from the candidates that mirror their persona through out the entire election. Senator McCain came into congress with an individual attitude calling for the resignation of the Securities and Exchange commission chairman and temporally suspending his campaign. Senator Obama arrived in Congress with an approach of committee thinking. Republicans have praised McCain for his decisive actions in suspending his campaign during the economic down turn while Democrats have criticized him as using this for a campaign ploy and show boating, if you will. Even though both Obama and McCain come from the Senate floor they have very different experiences and ideas on how a crisis should be handled. After eight years of perhaps some of the lowest points in American history it has become time to take an entirely new approach than the current administration has taken. In his policies and actions we've seen that Senator McCain share many of the same policies as President Bush does. It is obviously a campaign objective to distance himself from Bush. With the lowest approval rating in American history it is easy to see how much influence he can lose with the house of representatives voting down the bailout bill despite a great deal of support by President Bush. It will be a heated campaign and upcoming election because of this. This economic crisis is yet another challenge that will face our next President and the knowledge and ability when it comes to economy might possibly be a deciding factor on election day.

Media Censorship on Debate

Censorship in a Time of War: The Devil's Advocatee by Karl Fisch

In this entry it talks about an on going discussion about the censorship of media and specifically during war times. There were concerns brought up about the media's accuracy but I feel that the risk of the media lying is far less worse than with held information by the government. In war time it is even more important that the news and media outlets be able to report on what the current status of the nation is. The risk of becoming a country where wide spread censorship is common is a step towards even more usurping of rights. In the call for safety the citizens have given away the freedom of privacy. The government has used the excuse of safety as a way to impose on rights. Information kept secret that could be important for the American people to know should be told to them. That's why the founding fathers knew it was important to have a freedom of the press. Safety is not the most important thing in the United States way of government, it's freedom. This certainly is a issue that could arouse a great deal of opinions and it is a good thing that this website allows students to share how they feel about these issues.

Swift Plant Firings

Labor law experts say assembly line complicates Swift situation

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News, 9/13/200

The Swift company in Greeley has faced a great deal of controversy over the past couple of years. The first was the large scale illegal immigration raid that ended in the deportation of hundreds of immigrants. Now they are in a battle with their mostly Muslim employees, or former employees. It is over the fact many workers requested an earlier off time and later lunch break so that they could eat at sunrise and sunset like is the tradition in the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. Instead of meeting that compliance which is federal law to allow employees time in order to practice their religion, the Swift company laid them off. However the Swift company maintains it was due to worker incompetence. This whole ordeal brings up a point far beyond the Swift company. It really asks the question, "How is Islam viewed in post 9/11 America?" There is no doubt that Muslims are looked at very differently now by a vast amount of the population and I don't believe it's out of hate or a feeling of superiority but out of fear and misunderstanding. When the news is dominated by reports of, "Radical Islam," it sends a message to many people that the overall message of Islam is a violent and radical one, where in truth many Muslim societies are much more progressive than Iran or Islamic terrorist groups. If there was a serial killer in this country it is very unlikely that his or her religion would have anything to do with it and even if it did then it wouldn't peg the whole religion as a violent person or radical. With all these factors I think that the prejudice towards Islam is really more of a subconscious one. That's why I think that if it had been any other religion requesting such time off the plant might of provided it. It's definitely a controversial issue and should be dealt with in an appropriate manner.

Wikipedia: Quick to the News

Wikipedia Knew VP Picks Before You

From, “The Fischbowl” by Karl Fisch
I think this story about Wikipedia being one of the first media outlets to post the news of John McCain’s vice president pick proves that the mission of Wikipedia is working. Wikipedia is meant to be a site where people could freely update pages according to their knowledge in a field. I know that many people do not see the website as a viable source for information but if the editors of Wikipedia are forced to site their source or else the article will be sent to the original author for restoring facts. The point of Wikipedia is to be able to provide as much possible information and by allowing people to edit and update pages to their expertise provides the website to be able to be the first ones to receive the most important news first such in this case as the vice president pick. Apparently this company, “Cyveillance” has devoted many of its resources to Wikipedia to find the open sourced information about corporate buy outs, executive hireings, and other such information important for American businesses. If this trend continues Wikipedia could start to have major economic effects when it comes to stock trading. I predict that Wikipedia will soon become a vital way to spread information on a large scale.

Not just Hot Air

The Air Car Blows Back into Picture

By Jim Motavalli New York Times.com

In recent times there has been a panic due to the sky rocketing fuel prices around the world and there has been many suggested solutions. It is common to hear the idea for off the United States’ shore drilling but I believe the only way to fix the problem is to look for alternative ways to fuel cars and a automobile engineer in France Guy Negre may have found the solution. Despite skepticism by many people there were videos released showing a car that can go over 35 MPH and runs only on compressed air. If this could be a realistic alternative to oil or a car that is much better for the environment then it would defiantly worth further investigation into the project so that the car could run faster for high way usage and be affordable so that some day it would be in the price range of owning a car for most people. There are obviously some problems and concerns that are brought up, however there will never be any progress if people are not willing to invest and try new products. The benefits that the car will work in my view far out number the risks of the car. The car came at a perfect time too because right now in the world there is a large surplus of air.