Arizona's anti-gay bill veto unlikely to end 'religious freedom' movement

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/politics/religious-freedom-states/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

The latest political buzz has been about the bill that if passed would allow business owners to close their doors to gay and lesbian people. The argument is that it is within the owner's religious freedom to do this.  Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, has decided to veto the bill saying that, "It could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine." To me, this seems like a waste of time. Discrimination is never a viable option as seen through the history of our nation and of the world. In our modern age we should be more concerned with who is more qualified for the career and not base their character off of what they personally believe.  I hope to see this bill vetoed in all states to show a message that all people are equal and the merit of a person should not be instead judged on their way of life but judged by what they contribute to society. This relates to AP Gov bc we have been talking about the different steps a bill goes through in order to be approved and become law.

Lawmakers push Obama to reclassify marijuana

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/13/lawmakers-push-obama-to-reclassify-marijuana/?hpt=hp_t2

This article deals with the issue of where marijuana should stand as a drug. As of now it is labeled as a schedule one drug along with heroin, ecstasy, and LSD to name a few. Obama has come out and said, "I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." It is documented that marijuana has lead to no deaths where as alcohol has lead to hundreds of thousands in the past few years. Americans spend their tax money on sending people to jail who have charges with possessing marijuana but is this really a worth-while law? The government is beginning to show signs that they believe marijuana should become a legal substance to buy, sell and possess. This will bring great revenue as the states who have already made marijuana legal have seen an immense amount of buyers. I am for the legalization because it will keep a lot of people out of jail who don't belong there and will create a greater revenue for our country.   

Seismic Testing

http://www.savingseafood.org/council-actions/mid-atlantic-fishery-management-council-opposes-boem-seismic-testing-on-the-us-east-3.html

The issue of seismic testing is becoming larger and larger by the day. The government wants to conduct seismic tests off the east coast to test for natural resources under the oceans crust. This will have a detrimental effect on the marine life if the proposed plan is approved. The seismic blasts, which are louder than a jet engine, have the ability to burst marine mammals eardrums and displace countless numbers of fish and turtles who will be scared of the seismic waves. The government tried to conduct these experiments along the California coast but organizations such as Oceana stepped up and deafened the ocean's ecosystem. This is a huge issue as it will have multiple negative effects on not only our local economies but the health and diversity of the thriving ecosystems of the Gulf Stream which fisherman rely heavily on for their own survival. In my opinion the government only cares about money and their personal wealth while disregarding the environmental impact they leave behind. The public needs to be educated on the dangers of this issue in order to protest against the plan for offshore seismic testing.

Review: NSA snooping program should stay in place

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/18/politics/nsa-report/

The NSA has been scrutinized by the media and public for their snooping around taking information from electronics and saving it for "safety reasons."Although this seems like a clear violation of our right to privacy, Obama thinks otherwise and thinks we need to keep this controversial program in place. Because of the Patriot Act the government has the right to strip you of your rights and do whatever they feel the need to do if you are considered a terrorist or threat to the security of the nation. The NSA claims they are only collecting all this information to protect the U.S. from possible threats but is that what is really going on? Of course they wouldn't tell us the truth behind their reasoning so one can only guess. The presidential Review Group on Intelligence, which was only created because Edward Snowden was able to expose all this corruption to the public in our government, decided that the organization needs more strict judicial oversight and boundaries. This is the first step in taking action to protect our civil liberties guaranteed to us by the constitution and hopefully there will be many more to provide a clear distinction on how deep the government can go into our personal lives.

"Known Unknowns about Obamacare"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/politics/obamacare-secrets/?iref=obinsite

President Obamas new Obamacare has received a huge amount of scrutiny, especially due to the fact that the website made to sign up for this health care policy did not work at all. Now they say they finally have fixed the issues on the website but why are they not being upfront about three things: How many people actually visited the site, how many signed up, and just how messed up the information that the insurance companies are getting. This new health care policy is obviously a total mess and they people running it aren't even giving reasons for it, they are simply avoiding discussing the issue. White House press secretary Jay Carney said that over one million people visited the site which proves that a massive amount of people would like quality affordable health insurance. However, they are being blocked by the system which won't allow them to receive health care. The most disturbing issue is that the information that is going to insurance companies is not accurate and this is how they decide what to charge you on a monthly bases. My personal opinion is that they need to shut it down completely and actually fix all the bugs and issues embedded into the program before embarrassing themselves again.

U.S. Veteran gets detained in North Korea

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-korea-north-detention-idUSBRE9AK00P20131121

North Korea has recently detained an 85 year old Korean war veteran visiting from California. He was there to visit the land he once walked on so many years ago. He was there to study the culture and see how things have improved since the time he was there. While boarding his flight back to his home country he was forcefully taken off the plane by officials and taken away to be held in an undisclosed location says his son. The North Korean officials claim that he brought over "propaganda materials" to overthrow the state which is complete nonsense. He was approved by North Korea to come into the country, had all the right visas and passports, and is an elderly man who was seeking no harm in his visit. I think it is now an issue of human rights as to when and how soon the North Korean officials release  Newman. U.S. and North Korea's foreign relationship has not been very good in the last decade and this will not help any of these issues.

FDA and Trans Fat

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/health/fda-trans-fats/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

FDA Takes on Trans Fat

A positive change that is currently taking place in our country is the regulation of the use of trans fat in our foods. Trans fat is used by distributing companies to add flavor, elongate shelf life, and to make food look pretty. However, trans fat has no purpose other than that. Our bodies don't know how to break down trans fat and therefore proposes complications to our health such as heart disease, raises bad cholesterol and lowers good, and increases risk for heart attacks. I am really proud of our government for our government to focus on something as important to the publics health as this. This is hopefully the first step of many to reforming what goes into our food and what we eat. This applies to AP Gov because the FDA is part of the government and they are trying to pass a new law.