Article 2

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/world/middleeast/iran-ahmadinejad-questioned-before-parliament-majlis.html
This article is titled: "Iran's President Unfazed in Parliamentary Grilling" and is by Rick Gladstone and Alan Cowell.

This article discussed an interesting interrogation of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a rare broad casted event unlike any seen since 1979. This interrogation is considered by many to be some sort of plot to humiliate the president and to make him look bad, and if what this article says it true, it may have done just that. Due to recent strife with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and due to the nonsense surrounding the 2009 election, there is much dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad, and this interrogation of 10 questions was a way to voice dissent. From the beginning, Ahmadinejad made it clear that he did not want to be there and was rude and evasive while answering the questions and even sarcastic at times. He equated the writers of the questions to people who, "must have gotten their masters by just pressing a button," offending many. Basically, Ahmadinejad is on the way down. Though the idea of impeachment was thrown around, no one really believes that it will actually happen, but many believe that this is going to be the end of his reign and that the next president will not be his pupil, but rather someone completely different. I wonder if this is the start of a new era for Iran.

Article 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/mexicos-presidential-race-could-be-pivotal.html?_r=1&ref=mexico

This article is titled: "Investigating Beheadings, 12 Officers Slain in Mexico" by The Associated Press (which is the new york times)

Basically, this article talks about the 12 officers who were killed and the 11 wounded by gunmen in Mexico as they were investigating the beheadings of seven men and three women. From what I can understand from this article, the beheaded people were somehow associated with  La Familia, which is a drug cartel that's base is located in the mountains near where the bodies were found. The act of voilence seemed to have come from someone who was against the drug cartel as the bodies were found with a note threatning the cartel. I think all the drug violence in Mexico is just really sad and I don't think that it is going to stop any time soon because the government is involved and they have plenty of customers, including the United States who are buying everything they're selling. I feel like the United States is inadvertantly funding a terrorist organization by just refusing to leagalize marajuana. From what I've heard and seen, most of the appeal of marajuana revolves around the fact that it is illegal. I think if we made it legal we'd be taking a huge step in attempting to stop all the violence that is goign on in Mexico surrounding these drug cartels.

 

Last Political Cartoon? :)

This cartoon was drawn by Rick Mckee. Clearly, he dislikes Obama and is against his idea of increasing the taxes for the rich as a way to bring in more money for the government. In this cartoon he uses caricatures to represent Obama and then ridicules him by twisting his words into something that makes fun of him. I think it's pretty funny :).

Senior Year

I'm going to be honest, my senior year is passing slower than all the past 12 years put together. Right now, I'm in college and I'm ready to move on from high school and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get through the next two quarters -_-. That being said, I can't wait until next year :). I'm going down to visit South Florida next week and on June 14th at 2:00 I'll officially be moving on. :D

Watch your back o.o

 This comic was drawn by Gary Varvel. It shows Mitt Romney trying to get to the top of the ladder, which symbolizes the Republican Nomination, and the other candidates trying to cut him down and keep him away from the nomination.  This author uses satire and symbols to get his point across. I think that the cartoonist is trying to point out that Romney is clearly the forerunner, but everyone else is trying to keep him from the nomination. Right now, Romney is on the path to the nomination, but as we've seen with, most recently, Gingrich and Santorum, people are constantly sneaking up and getting close to toppling Romney. I don't think the cartoonist believes they will succeed though, as Romney seems very stable on that ladder. 

Who's gonna win?

I think that Mitt Romney is going to win because everyone else can't get their acts together. Tell me why there are only two people who are going to be on the ballot for the Virginia primaries. Unless everyone else can get their campaigns together or another person swoops in and takes over I think we're looking at a Romney nomination and another 4 years for Obama.

Random Musings

As I'm reading chapter 5, I thought I would just jot down a few thoughts I have on equality and the such :). I really like the fact that the book emphasizes that the American society has developed into one in which equality of opportunity is emphasized rather than equality of results. When I first read that sentence, I couldn't help but to immediately think about welfare and how, if we truly are a society who doesn't believe that everyone should have the same amount of salary or property, it clashes with this idea. After a second though, I took a step back and thought about innocent children not yet given any opportunities who were born into welfare dependent families and I wondered if it would be politically correct for me to believe that welfare should only go to those who are disabled or have children. Then I remembered human nature and I realized that eventually, with welfare only going to families with children, desperate people would start to have children simply to receive welfare which is a truly terrible/depressing idea. Ugh.
Then, of course, I began to think about affirmative action. At it's base level, I believe in the idea of affirmative action and it's attempts to even the playing field, but I have some fundamental issues with how it is done. I think one thing that is important to remember is that affirmative action isn't just showering minority kids with scholarship money and college acceptance which, having heard the side comments made every time affirmative action in brought up, I think some people might actually believe.

(tired. I'll finish later) :)