On Monday, November 30^th, 2015 Matthew Schultz published a post on his blog, "We aren't, but we can be," discussing Donald Trumps recent re-tweet of a picture about racial crime rates. Matthew stated that the information in the re-tweet from Donald trump was a source that was made up, there is no such thing of “the Crime Statistic bureau” once I read that part I got to thinking, was trump doing this as a joke? Is he trying to be stereotypical? After reading this post I come to an agreement with Matthew, Trump is plain stupid. Matthew made great points; he also added who is actually in charge of collecting the statistics for murder (The FBI). What was also added was a chart to help us understand the difference from the real statistics from the FBI as of 2014 (since 2015 has not yet been released to the public) and Trumps re-tweet for a 2015 fake statistics. Matthew was also able to mention what he thought of Trump, “Trump finds ways to say anything he wants and has yet to really suffer for saying them.” Trump has made many remarks that are either really racist or sexist, not only that but he has talked offensively about many people to the public.

Blog Stage 7

In society today there has been an interest group called “Black Lives Matters” it is an international activist movement, originating in the African American community, that campaigns against violence toward black people. 60 years after Rosa Parks Refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a bus, Hilary Clinton was able to make an appearance to recall the protest that happened in Montgomery Alabama. Mrs. Clinton has treated the issue of race and civil rights as a priority in her campaigns. That is what we need, a president to address the issue of race in this country. On December 6, 1865 the 13^th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. Almost 150 years later some of our citizens in this country still cannot get along; I don’t understand why? We were raised together as a diverse country. Unlike Clinton, Donald Trump thinks otherwise of the African American community. Trump has a lot to say about race, he has his crime statistics all wrong. Trump claims to have gathered information stating with an incorrect percentages of crime rates caused by blacks. His percentages were way higher than they actually are. He also added a low percentage crime rates caused by white; those rates were lower than they actually appear. Trump acts as if he is trying to help our country, but in reality Trump can go on about a subject and never really get to a point or a solution that can help our country. What our country needs is a diverse political community that will lead us in the direction of a successful country.

Legalize the Use of Recreational Marijuana!

Lately marijuana has been a topic politicians have been discussing in the recent presidential debate. Many of the candidates have admitted to smoking pot at some point in their lives and they do not see any problems with it. That being said I do not see a problem for marijuana to finally be legalized for recreational use. There are many more pro’s if weed were to be legal; I’m not saying there wouldn’t be any con’s there just wouldn’t be as much.

For instance, if marijuana were to be legalized the government would be able to undermine the organizations income. Meaning legalizing pot will even help America’s financial status, who doesn’t love extra money? That extra money is an incentive to help our economy. Not only the extra money for America’s debts but also a drop in criminal rates for the possession of marijuana. This is a waste of resource of our law enforcement to be dealing with. Instead of imprisoning those for smoking joints or having less than a few pounds of weed we should be reserving jail cells for those who are real criminals. Tax money shouldn’t be used to an offense that isn’t as serious (the use of marijuana) as other lawbreakers.

Another proposition is the drug is harmless compared to other legal substances. Tobacco is way more harmful for it increases the risks of multiple types of cancer, heart diseases, strokes, and so forth. Not only can tobacco be harmful to those using it but also to those who are also around it. If you look up “affect on marijuana” on WebMD there is a clear sentence that states occasional use is not harmful. Also for those who are having health problems such as pain, cancer, AIDS, arthritis and other conditions marijuana can be an effective treatment. There are many scenarios that can be played out if the use of recreational marijuana were to be legalized.

The term "Police Brutality"

On Friday October 16, 2015 America Blog posted a blog titled Why I Don’t use the term“Police Brutality.” The blog was written by Raghav Sharma, he is a writer, filmmaker, and political activist studying at the University of Pittsburgh. He writes on electoral and campaign finance issues, foreign policy, and economic affairs. Sharma talks about how police violence might be a tired topic that is important and must be discussed.

There are many examples in the readings that Sharma gives to show the effect of police brutality on citizens. There is a video included that is very graphic showing a man being tased while he is restrained in a chair slowly dying. Another example Sharma shows us is the Chicago Police department who hid detainees captive for no good reasons in a warehouse, similar to the CIA black site, illegally.

Sharma mentions many times that those wearing blue (Police officers) are here to serve and protect. But, Sharma makes a good statement once he starts talking about a pattern of violence towards a disadvantaged minority group (Black Americans).  An organization called, “Black Lives Matter” has been put together to help protect this minority group from being beaten by police officers for most the time having no good reasoning.

Sharma says, “Americans must confront the fact that what we call police brutality has a more appropriate name: state-sanctioned terror.” This is the sad truth, we should not be afraid of the people who are suppose to help us by protecting not only our country but every citizen with in it.

Sharma’s concluded his blog by stating that our legal system is controlled to protect the criminals, we should expect to see more of these “state-sanctioned terrors” on those at home; though this is sad to hear it is correct.

As of today, Friday October 2, 2015 The New York Times published an opinionated article titled, “The Political Ritual After Mass Shooting” by The Editorial Board. After the shooting massacre that occurred this past Thursday at an Oregon Community College, the republican candidates only gave condolences to the families and community who lost loved ones, nothing more. As for president Barrack Obama made clear this should be a political issue and he would not stop addressing the issue until everyone can come to an agreement of having more Gun Laws being passed. The editorial board made clear this topic is a huge concern and should be focused on which I completely agree upon.

 With presidential campaigns growing, this topic will be the main talk. But from the editorial board point of view, they noticed a changing of topics from gun massacre to “another mental health problem” coming from mostly republican politicians, including Donald Trump. Though, as well said on the article, the fact about guns being purchased in stores is so much simpler, it does not matter if those are mentally ill or not. The sad reality is how often shooting spree is occurring in the United States.

Included in the article were analysts findings over a 13-year study period were there was a 10 percent rise from 2000-2006 to 2007-2013 of shooting spree happenings. They also found that the gunmen have been observing passed shooting sprees and the fame of those who have murdered multiples at a time. Having this information in the article is clear that there is not talk about gun control, but after many more incidents occurring this has become a big controversial issue.

As for some of the democratic presidential candidates, this issue is being talked about with a more serious view such as greater gun safety from candidate Hillary Rodham. As for another candidate, Bernie Sanders, who is proud to support Obama’s outline on more gun laws. The letter comes to an end with the editorial board coming back to republican candidates sending sympathy to families but to also solve the solution to this major problem of shooting sprees and gun control.