Impact on citizen participation

By getting information from the internet, it impacts on how people think about the certain stuff. And it helps people to gather around to do something if there is a problem. Just like what happened it Egypt. People did not rebel against the old government back in the day, because they could not gather a lot of people to protest. But thanks to twitter, they gathered around and managed to take down the old government.

Political Advertisement

I do not believe dissing other candidate to win the election is the best strategy. Instead of finding other candidates weak spot, I think they should advertise the good side of them, then people will vote for them. If they keep on dissing others, people will ended up not voting because they think none of the candidates does not deserve to win anything.  

E-Commerce Taxation

E-Commerce taxation is difficult to resolve because the United States just cannot shut the website down because the States are not getting taxes from what people sell through online. If they stop people from selling stuff through online, they would say they have constitutional right to do whatever they wants to do with their stuff. And people are just trying to save money by using that method, so the states cannot really say anything about it, but because of that, they are not getting as much money as they used to.

Government censoring media

I do not really know a lot of media that got shut down by government, but back in the day, when New York Times published Pentagon Paper, the government tried to shut down that section, and failed. And right now, WikiLeaks got shut down by the United States government even though the publisher is not in the United States. And I think the government should be allow to shut those kind of media down, if it brings confusion and casualties to the United States army.

Media

Just like television shows, it also depends on how they treat the news. But I personally think the website like, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicles, etc, are dependable website to use if we want to get accurate news, but besides that, I think blogs, and sometimes magazines are unreliable because they always put their thoughts in the article. No matter how hard they try not to be bias, everyone has their own opinion, and put it in their writing.

television show

Everything depends on what the television channel do with the news. For example, Fox News makes the news bias, we cannot really trust what they are saying. However, Daily shows with Jon Stewart or other comedy shows help us inform the news to us by making boring political news into funny news.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

New York Times published "The Pentagon Papers", which was stolen by Ellsberg, and the federal government temporary order stopping the Times from publishing the papers. And In a 6-3 decision, the Court agreed that they are free to publish "The Pentagon Papers."
I personally do not agree with this decision, because this information would lead to battlefield casualties and diplomatic difficulties.

Gitlow v. New York

Girlow had been charged with teaching the necessity and duty to overthrow the government, and Court voted 7 to 2 to uphold Gitlow's conviction for violating the 1902 New York Criminal Anarchy Act.
Just like Miller v. California, I think he deserves to go to jail for influencing people with preaching and teacher this idea of overthrowing government.


Little project done by students.

The Act defined \criminal anarchy as "the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force or violence, or by assassination of the executive head or any of the executive officials of government, or by any unlawful means."

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)

Black children had been denied admission to segregated white public schools and the U.S, Supreme Court concluded that segregation of black school children "generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone... And language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected."
I totally agree with this decision, because the I do believe that the moment they separate people, the inequality will begin.




Brown v. Board is different from Sweatt v. Painter because for Sweatt v. Painter had held that black people must be admitted to the previously segregated University of Texas Law school because no separation but equal facility existed in the state, but Brown v. Board did not have that.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for breaking into a Florida pool with the intention to burglarize it, and the court refused to give him a court-appointed attorney, and he ended up losing and sentenced to five years imprisonment. However, he wrote a handwritten petition requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to accept his case on appeal and the Court found in Gideon's favor, overturning Betts v. Brady.

I personally do not like this one because this man clearly was guilty, but because the attorney was not given to him. It went against the constitution, but still, I find this not fair.


Gideon sent handwritten petition to Supreme Court for repeal 

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Miranda was arrested by phoenix police for questioning on charges of kidnapping and rape, but he was not advised neither of his right to an attorney nor of his right to remain silent. And after two hours of interrogation, he signed a written confession, and was later found guilty. However, the Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 vote overturned Miranda's conviction because it went against the Fifth Amendment.
I do not know what to say for this one, because I do not know if Miranda really is guilty or not, however, it went against the Fifth Amendment, so I agree with Supreme Court's decision, but at the same time, if he really was guilty but got released because he was not advised neither of his right to an attorney nor of his right to remain silent, I would've felt bad.



Little summary of Miranda Law.

Fifth Amendment guarantees that "on person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

UC Davis set up the special admissions for minority, but because of that, Alan Bakke could not get into Davis even though he is qualified to get into the school. And Supreme Court ruled that the University's minority admissions program violated the equal protection clause, although a properly devised program could well be constitutional.




The article said the Fourteenth Amendment do not belong to classes but to individuals. Which means, it does not belongs to minority class, but belongs to individuals like, Bakke.

Miller v. California (1973)

Miller was prosecuted under California's obscenity laws and found guilty for mailings adult books and films, and the Court in 1973 voted 5 to 4 in California's favor.

Although finding guilty for expressing free speech and a free press is against the first amendment, I do think the Court made a right decision, because it is just not right.

This guy got adult magazine, and is freaked out about it.

I do not think "free" speech or "free" press mean that persons or materials that they produce should be allowed to exist with no regulation or restrictions because if there is no regulation, terrorist might express free speech and free press to  confuse Americans and put this country in danger.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Homer Plessy, one-eighth black person, was arrested and ordered imprisoned, for sitting in the white section of a train, and refusing to give up his seat. Justice Henry Brown won the case with 7 to 1 vote but he still had to pay $20 fine and spend 25 day in prison.
Even though Justice Henry Brown won the case, I still do not understand why Plessy had to pay fine and spend his night at jail.


This is the brief summary of  Plessy v. Ferguson, and it has a nice song.
Justice Brown said Fourteenth Amendment aimed strictly "to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law." So, he thinks according to Fourteenth Amendment, everybody should be treated equally.

United States v. Nixon 1974

The president of the United States taped many conversation in the White House's Oval Office, so the special prosecutor demanded the tape, but president Nixon refused to surrender the tapes because he thinks he had executive privilege. However, the Court agreed unanimously that the President had to turn over the tapes.
And I think the Court made a right decision, because even the president has to live under the same law as regular citizen. No matter who it is, we cannot give anybody advantage.
For more information, we could buy that book, and learn more about this case.
 President thought the executive privilege was secure from a subpoena because it was necessary to protect the confidentiality of high-level communications, and the principle of separation of powers protects the president through the independence of Executive Branch, but the Court found this argument insufficient.

Roe v. Wade 1973

Unmarried pregnant woman, brought suit against District Attorney Wade of Dallas County, so she could get an abortion. And in the end, In a 7 to 2 vote, the Court decided in Roe's favor.

I think personally think women have right to do whatever they want to do with their body, so I think the court made a wise right decision.




Well, I think Joe Biden said it very well, but I still do not know how Sarah Palin got nominated as a vice president.

Roe did not have right to privacy when she was pregnant, so she took the case to the supreme court. Justice Blackmun said it could be inferred from the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments, and won the case.And I think the constitution was well used for this situation, because the state was invading personal privacy.

Community Service paper

Andy Kim

Mr. McAlister

Government

April 13, 2011

Health Care

Part I.

            Although I am South Korean, I kind of want to say my country is good, but I cannot deny the fact that the United States still is one of the greatest countries in this world right now. That is the major reason why our family emigrated from South Korea to the United States. We thought since the United States is one of the greatest countries, I thought everything was going to be good, but it was not true. Most of counties have universal health care, so I assumed that the United States would have one but they did not have it. In fact, “The U.S. is the only developed nation in the world that does not provide universal, taxpayer-supported healthcare to its residents. Instead, most Americans either pay for their own private coverage or use the insurance provided to them by their employers” (Universal Health Care). I was pretty young when I first got to the United States, so I did not really know anything, but I thought I would be able to go to hospital whenever I wanted to, just like I did in South Korea, but my mom said we cannot go to hospital unless we get into very dangerous accident or about to die. At that point, I realized that we would unable to pay for the medical bill because we do not have health insurances. And I found out that more than 32 million people in America do not have health insurance because they cannot afford to buy them. I wanted to talk about this because I feel like the government does not care about poor people. Rich people did not want Health Care Reform to happen in this country, because they actually can afford to get insurances without worrying about it. However, poor people just cannot afford to get insurances because they are too busy paying taxes, buying groceries, when they are done paying them, they do not have enough to pay for insurances. So, they do not get them. And I think it is not fair for poor people because they are actually the one who exposes themselves to danger the most.

            When Mr. Obama came out with this health care reform, two different reactions came out, one was from rich people and Republicans, and the second one was from poor, middle class people and Democrats. People who oppose new health care reform want to repeal it because:

The coverage expansion is simply too expensive, at a price tag of about $1 trillion over 10 years. They also say new fees and taxes to help pay for the coverage place too big a burden on currently insured people. Meanwhile, a group of state attorneys general is challenging the constitutionality of the law's requirement that everyone buy health insurance. (Clemmitt)

On the other hand, other people support health care reform because:

             The massive legislation will help 32 million Americans get health insurance coverage and bans insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting illnesses. It also expands Medicaid to all poor people — except illegal immigrants — and gives subsidies to low- and low-middle-income people to buy insurance. (Clemmitt)

I like what the government is trying to do right now, because it will help poor people who could not go to the hospital. And I was researching information to write this paper, and I found out that the prisoners get better health treatment than the one who works really hard in the United States. And this is the story:

On Sept. 18, 1995, Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena repeatedly stabbed two sisters, 18 and 30, whom he had met at a farm labor camp. The younger bled to death but the elder survived with 17 stab wounds to testify against him. In 1996, Reyes-Camarena was sentenced to Oregon's death row. He was placed under protection of the state.

When it was discovered that his kidney was failing, the state covered the costs for his treatment, using $121,000 taxpayers' dollars per year to pay for dialysis.  On top of that, his prison doctor stated that he deserved a kidney transplant, a procedure that would cost the state an additional $100,000, so that he would be able to stay healthy until the date of his execution. (Berman)

When I saw this article, I was really upset, because even the prisoner, who committed the violence in the society gets kidney for free, but civilians living hard in the United States cannot get the surgery because they cannot afford it, or they are on a waiting list. I personally think government are thinking about the prisoners before civilians in America, because the article shows us that the government are willing to do whatever to save this prisoner, who was going to die eventually, because it is inhumane to let him die. And when my parents heard that President Obama was trying really hard to pass health care reform, they were really glad about it, because we are lower class. And everything the government has done, before new health care reform, was just feeding the insurance companies with a lot of money, so they could get some profit out of those. Lafayette and most of white community does not really need new health care reform, because everyone living here is at least in the middle class, other communities needs this health care reform. I have seen a lot of people who died from cancer from television, because they could not find the cancer soon, and the reason why they could not find it early was because they did not have enough money to check them out. And even my mom is physically doing pretty bad, she is often in pain, but she refuses to go to hospital because she is afraid of the bills we are going to get after the treatment, or just by checkup.

Part II.

The white house, president and Democrats were trying very hard to pass new health care reform but could not pass it quickly because Republican always said no. But finally on June 11, 2010, new health care reform, which is known as the Patient protection and Affordable Care Act, was signed by president Obama. This health care reform includes:

Expanding Medicaid; providing subsidies to help low- and middle-income families buy insurance; creating regulated insurance markets where people without employer-sponsored insurance can buy subsidized coverage; and using Medicare's economic clout to cut health care costs. (Clemmitt)

Not only it makes a lot of people to get insurance with a lot cheaper price, so they could go to hospital anytime they want, without worrying about the money, and it also will bring many patient to the hospital, so they will eventually make more money, and that is why many big hospitals and American Hospital Association is up for this law. And a lot of people think of this new health care reform as government taking over insurance company, but it actually is not. All they are trying to do is this.

The health care reform plan includes no new government-run plan. Rather, it imposes new regulations on health insurance companies, preventing them from dropping people from their plans when they get sick and restricting them from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions. The law also requires almost all Americans to carry health insurance, starting in 2014. (Health Care Reform)

When we watched the movie, which was produced by Michael Moore, during economy class, I got very upset when I found out that the insurance companies are literately selling product which is useless to the customer. And even if they have bought the right one, they make some excuse, so they do not have to pay for them. I think before the insurance company think about the money they are about to lose because of the Patient protection and Affordable Care Act, they should try hard to improve their product. So by passing this law, it would make insurance company to at least slow them down from trying to fraud innocent civilians. Not only that, cost of health care was keep increasing but nobody really knows why it is increasing. And I think this law could prevent insurance companies from raising the price of their product for no reason. And finally make hospital to treat everyone equally since everyone has insurance, so they would stop from kicking people out from their own hospital.

            What I did for the community service was fairly simple. I just had to sort and organize the medical stuff, which was donated by many hospitals, so the organization, Medshare, could send those to third world countries. By the way, the medical stuff was donated because they did not use it during the surgery, or it was expired, but if they sanitize it, it could be used. And the director said, people in third world counties do have some hospitals and some doctors, but they cannot get the medical stuff because it is expensive or could not get it. So, they ended up using supplies more than it needed to. They even reuse the gauze which has the blood on it. If it looks dirty, they would just go to the river, and rinse it out, and use it to other patient and because of those actions, people who drinks water gets sick and reused gauzes ended up infecting the patients. Therefore, I do think Medshare is a very good organization, but I did not really like volunteering there because I did not feel like I was helping out the community. When they say community, normally people mean the area which surrounds them. And I was disappointed because I could not help out the people in the United States, because they also suffer as much as those people from the third world countries. Anyways, what I am trying to say is, my community service has nothing to do with the United States’ health care reform, but what I want to say is, when the government is helping out the patients in other countries, they are not really thinking about the people in the United States. I know the U.S. government cares more about the Americans, but it seems like they only care about rich Americans. Moreover:

The United States will donate $130 million to African medical schools to improve medical education on the continent, the Obama administration announced last week. The donations, to be made over five years, will go to about 30 medical schools and teaching hospitals in a dozen countries, and to about 20 American medical schools that have agreed to collaborate with them. (McNeil Jr.)

I think the United States did really great job, helping countries that needs medical help, but I personally think instead of improving their medical education, they should send more medical equipment. And even before they help those people out, they should look at their own citizen and take care of lower class first.

Part III:

            To be honest, I do not know what else can be done about the health issue. President Obama tried very hard to pass the Patient protection and Affordable Care Act, and he made it into a law. I am little bit afraid because I think the Republicans will try to repeal this law again, as soon as they get a chance, the government has done everything they could do for citizens. The remaining has to be done by the insurance companies, and citizens.

            Even though I said I was not very satisfied with my roll, I still think it is good to help other people who need help. And we were volunteering one day and the queen from Tonga came all the way down to us to say thank you, and I realized that Medshare is pretty powerful organization. And when I was working with other people, who does community service for nothing, I was really amazed people would spend their day helping other people out, because even when I was doing community service at food bank, I did not feel like I was helping anyone, because everyone was kind of like forced to do what they were doing. But I learned a lot of things from Medshare, if I had more chance, I would like to go back to that place, and volunteer so I can help other people out.  

Why We Need Health Care Reform

If reform takes place, a lot of good thing will happen to the United States. Poor people would be insured, so they would not be afraid of going to hospitals, and hospitals will make more money since they are going to get more patient. However, if it fails bad thing will happen.

It should be no surprise that people without insurance often postpone needed care, and many get much sicker as a result. That is morally unsustainable. It is also fiscally unsustainable for safety net hospitals — which foist much of the cost on the American taxpayer when the uninsured end up in the emergency room. As the number of uninsured rises, that bill will rise.

The Senate’s reform bill would reduce the number of uninsured by an estimated 31 million in 2019. The Republicans’ paltry proposals would cut the number by only three million.

 No matter what, I believe that Health Care Reform will bring good result to the people in this country. And I thank President Obama and his supporters for that.

Health Care Reform about to happen

Despite of Republicans oppose, President Obama, White house and Democrats have managed to keep it, and will turn this bill into a Law.

The focus of the reform is on improving the dysfunctional and hugely expensive insurance markets for individuals and small businesses, and on expanding Medicaid coverage for the poor. The big expansion of coverage will start in 2014, but some reforms start quickly, like tax credits to help small businesses provide coverage.

Like they said, it will start in 2014, but I am little bit afraid Republicans will try to repeal the Health Care Reform as soon as they get chance. Hopefully they do not do that, and keep it, so the government can help poor people.

President still in talk about cutting spending

There are many ways of cutting spending, but President Obama is trying to cut it by adjusting the Health Care.

While Congress and the Obama administration averted a government shutdown late last week, federal lawmakers and presidential aides will continue to debate how to cut spending — with Medicare and Medicaid often in the cross hairs.

In this article, the New York Times collected many articles from some people and put them together, and they all concluded that they all have something to do with Medicare and Medicaid.

Health Law Changes

This change does not really have big impact on anyone, but senate had managed to change something from the Health Law.

The Senate voted 87 to 12 to repeal a requirement that would have forced businesses to file tax forms for every vendor selling them more than $600 in goods each year, starting in 2012. The requirement was unrelated to health care, but it would have been used to generate revenue to pay for part of the law.

 I personally do not know why this is part of the Health  since it has nothing to do with Health Law, but I think they got rid of it, because we do not need it.

Some Hospital Supports Health Care Law, and Some Don't

American Hospital Association and Big Hospitals are supporting new health care law when small rural hospitals are opposing the law. Supporters favors new Health Care Law, because they are already losing money and patient, so they think if the New Health Care law comes, it would bring many patient back to hospital.

The hospital associations are lobbying for some important changes, but not the outright repeal that was approved by the Republican-controlled House in January.
“We supported it, imperfect as it is,” said Richard J. Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association. “Now it is much more important to build on it and improve it.”

Even though they do not really like health care law, they do not have any options instead of supporting it, because they already lost too much money.

No More Credit Card

Recently, we are using phone as camera, video camcorder, game boy, and even as computer. I thought phone cannot get any better than it is right now, but people are taking it to the next level.

While one analyst estimated, conservatively, that only 5.9 percent of merchants will accept mobile payments by 2015, Mr. Bézard of Aite Group said that many of the large retailers — including McDonald’s, Home Depot and CVS — already had the terminals and thus could take part whenever the payment network was figured out. And, he said, 80 percent of consumer transactions occur at the top 200 merchants.

The chance of phone replacing credit card in the United States right now is unlikely, because company like Paypal and Google do not like it. However, like that analyst said, I do believe it is going to happen no matter what, so they should just give up resisting, and learn to live with it.

Mental Health Break

Race Issues Rise for Miami Police

Many people claim that police in this century in the United States are being fair to all the race. However, I still believe that in certain area, that might be true, but most of city or town in America, some police are still unfair to certain race. And in Miami, some polices are not being fair to certain race right now.

 The video, shot with a hand-held camera, shows brawny Miami police officers breaking down doors and hauling handcuffed African-American suspects off some of the city’s toughest streets. “We hunt,” one officer says in the five-and-a-half-minute clip. “I like to hunt.”

Well, if they have that kind of mentality when they are working as a police officer, there are something wrong with them because it sounds like they are enjoying hunting those African-Americans. Humans are different from animal because they have ability to define what is good and bad, but I feel like they do not know anything about them.

Medicaid and New York Budget

I do not really know how things work in New York, and never really cared about them, but I think they made really brilliant move on health care. 

The governor’s Medicaid Redesign Team — which was dominated by health care providers and public officials — agreed to hold state spending on the major portion of Medicaid to $15.1 billion next year, well below the $18 billion originally projected. They also agreed to hold future growth to a 10-year rolling average of medical inflation. That is a very stringent standard.

 If it works well, maybe president Obama could take a close look at what New York did, and apply to the United States.

Will affordable Care Act will affect unemployment?

Also, Republicans does not like affordable Care Act because they think it will increase the unemployment. However, it turns out that it would not have impact on the job. And here is reasons.

First, the law’s net expenditures are too small compared to the overall size of the economy in order to impact employment.

Second, the expansion coverage it creates in Medicaid and income-related subsidies should increase employment in the health sector.

And last, most firms will not be affected because they already meet the health insurance standards of the federal law or because of new requirements are exempt from the law if they have fewer than 50 workers.

Also, the authors say other factors, like monetary and fiscal policies, are likely to have a much greater impact on the economy than healthcare reform. 

As you can see, it will have really little impact on the job right now, so Republicans and haters should stop hating on Obama's affordable care act, and just learn to live with it.

New Health Care Law

Mr. president and his follower knew Republicans would not support his old health care plan, so he came out with new one, just so he can please the Republicans

Obama administration officials say they were expecting praise from critics of the new health care law when they offered to exempt selected employers and labor unions from a requirement to provide at least $750,000 in coverage to each person in their health insurance plans this year.

 However, even with the new plan, the Republicans still do not like new health care law because they claim that there will be a lot of exception. I feel like no matter what Mr. President comes out with new health care law, I think Republicans are going to say no to every single plan, just because they can.

Mental Health Break

What is up with those priest

I do not read a lot of newspaper, maybe that is why I did not know this is really happening in the world, but as soon as I saw this article, I got upset, and got disgusted. 

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that it had suspended 21 priests from active ministry in connection with accusations that involved sexual abuse or otherwise inappropriate behavior with minors.

I really think they should go to jail. I am pretty sure the minors did not want to have sex with them, so it is technically rape, but I do not know why they do not have to go to jail when they have committed crime. They are only getting suspended from active ministry, and I think it is not fair to the people.

Everything is done by mobile

I personally do not believe in having a health care, not because I believe I am invincible, but because I do not feel like the package the insurance company sell is good enough for me, and even if it is good enough, I do not want to pay for it. I do not want to worry about future before it happens. However, if I were to get a Health care insurance, I would like to see my doctor, and see what is good and bad in my body before I get insured. However, world is changing, and people are not even seeing doctors for that.

Everyday across the U.S., tens of thousands of patients in the Veterans Administration health system start their day by answering questions about how they feel. But they aren't meeting with a doctor or a nurse — or even talking to them on the phone. Instead they are pressing buttons on an alarm clock-size device called a Health Buddy.

Well, I am really glad our technology is getting better, but I do not think getting insurance without consulting a doctor is a bad idea.

140 medical pot shops are about to close down

Well, I do not think doing a drug is a bad thing to do, because I do not know how it will harm other people. Government lets people to smoke cigarette even though it could hurt other people. And let people drink even though it hurts the drinker. Anyways, here is reason why they were about to close down.

The Los Angeles Times reports the city attorney's office sent a letter to the dispensaries Monday. They were targeted because the operators did not file applications by the Feb. 18 deadline to participate in a lottery to choose 100 that will operate in the city.

 They deserves to close down because they disobeyed the law, but I personally think it is time to legalize the drug like marijuana, because if government will let sick people to use them, they should let other people to use it as well

Members of Congress Want President Obama to Replace Dr. Donald M. Berwick.

The President Obama has nominated Dr. Donald M. Berwick for three times, but for some reason, but confirmation has been held, and none are scheduled.

In a letter to the White House last week, 42 Republican senators urged Mr. Obama to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs insurance programs for more than 100 million people. If those senators stick together, they could block confirmation.

I feel like Republican does not like anything that president Obama is doing right now. So far, they did not agree on anything even though it could make the United States to be a better place. And they are not even giving us the reason why they would not give confirmation for Dr. Berwick. So, I think not saying yes for Dr. Berwick is nothing but a big joke

Health Care

To be honest, I do not have health insurance, kind of because we are currently financially struggling, because of the economy, but not only that, there are so many packages, and sometimes, some of our body parts are not insured by the package. And I do not feel like I need to have it, but I feel like I need it, just in case something bad happens. So, even one of our family member get sick, we are afraid to go to the doctor because we know it cost a lot, just to see a doctor. And in South Korea, I think people are insured by the government health care, so it only cost around 5 dollar to see a doctor, and the medication used to cost me about 5 dollar. So, I think we should have Obama care.

However, Republicans are trying to repeal Obama Care because it will increase the inflation, but I do believe that saving people's live are better than not having job. We can decrease the inflation, but we cannot bring the dead person back.

And Republicans also said, one of the reason to repeal the Obama Care is because it is socialism. It maybe socialism because government is taking over, but isn't it better than letting people die on the street because they do not have money for medical? I really do not understand what they are thinking.

About Republican

I think the biggest strength of the Republican party is their view on the terrorist. I do believe that all the terrorist should be gone, and they will do anything in their power to protect American people from getting hurt by the terrorist. And at the same time, they also want to keep peace, and avoid the war, and I really like that Idea.

But to be honest, I do not really like republican's after seeing Sarah Palin. I think having Sarah Palin as a Republican Party member is the biggest weakness they have because to be honest, I do not think she has any ability  to do anything. I do not even know how she was the governor for Alashka Alaska.

And I think the biggest weakness of the Republican is how they are trying to repeal the Obama Care. I feel like they do not care about poor people, and trying to say poor people can just die, if they cannot afford to get insurance.

About Democrats

I personally think the biggest strength of Democrats is their view on the health care. I personally believe in Obama Care because I think not everyone can afford to have the individual health care, which is sold by companies. And they twist the item, so even if we get an insurance, some people seldom does not get anything even if they have them. And they should fight Republican, so they can keep Obama Care.

I like the fact that they are trying to prevent the government from cutting budgets on the Education. The article said, the actual budget decline will be much steeper, and if it happens, a lot of students and teachers will be effected by it. Maybe, I like the fact that Democrats' idea because I believe the education is the most important thing in the world.

However, I do not like the fact that they are trying to do everything to maintain the Social Security. I believe they should increase the age because it will save the government a lot of money, and also because I am not old enough to get the money from the government, but i really do not like their position on Social Security.

More problem in Somalia

I personally think, it does not really matter if the doctor is old, or their gender. According to NY Times, some gun man threatened Mama Haw, who is running  Dr. Hawa Abdi’s hospital, because he does not like the fact the the old women in running the hospital. 

They did not seem to care that Mama Hawa, 63, was one of the only trained doctors for miles around, and that the clinic, school and feeding program she built on her land supported nearly 100,000 people, most of them desperate refugees from the fighting and poverty that has afflicted this nation.

For hours, militia commanders held Dr. Abdi at gunpoint while their underlings — mostly 15- to 16-year-old boys — ransacked the hospital, shooting anesthesia machines, smashing windows and tearing up records.

Even now days, Islamic people are very sexist, and they destroyed many medical machine that cost a lot, and helps a lot of patient because it runs by women. I just do not understand what those teenagers were trying to accomplish by doing those things. I think they should know better, and apologizes to Mama Haw.  

Zimbabweans pays medical bills with peanut

Zimbabwe, which is really poor country, does not have good medical system. But to poor people, I think they treat patient better in Zimbabwe than in the United States because they do not send the patient to other poor conditioned hospital because they cannot afford to pay the medical bill. The article is from NY times.

People lined up on the veranda of the American mission hospital here from miles around to barter for doctor visits and medicines, clutching scrawny chickens, squirming goats and buckets of maize. But mostly, they arrived with sacks of peanuts on their heads.

This will never happen in America because the doctors values money over any other food and not only that, the hospital will never do bad as the hospitals in Zimbabwean. I am saying this idea is good, but American doctor should learn something from this article.

Politopia result

Centerville-You would feel most at home in Centerville, which means that you are more or less pleased the status quo-you think the US government has just about the right amount of control over your economic and personal decisions. Your neighbors include democratic and republican party leaders and others who call themselves "moderates" and "centrists."

Mental Health Break

The United States Helping other Africa Countries

Even though the United States is in a crisis, they are still helping other countries which does not have a good medical system.

The United States will donate $130 million to African medical schoolsto improve medical education on the continent, the Obama administration announced last week. The donations, to be made over five years, will go to about 30 medical schools and teaching hospitalsin a dozen countries, and to about 20 American medical schools that have agreed to collaborate with them.

I think it is a smooth move made by President Obama because he is showing many countries that even if America is not doing great, we are going to do our best to help other counties. However, I do not understand why he could spend those kind of money for other countries, but he cannot spend it for American who lives in a poor condition. I think he should do something quickly before people start getting more angry

Solution for Expensive Hospital Cost?

In every country, it cost a lot to get a surgery or to get check up from the hospital. And a reporter from New York Times wrote his solution in his article.

The strategy is to move beyond doctors — to take the work of health care and shift down from doctors and nurses to lay people, peers and family.  In the United States and other wealthy countries, lay people can fill in the gaps in left by doctors’ care.  In poor countries, people with no or little formal medical training are successfully substituting for doctors and nurses.

 I see where he is going, but there is a really big problem with his problem. Those people with no or little formal medical training would not know how to deal with really serious disease, so they would not know how to treat those people, so they are going to end up dying. I think he needs to come up with more realistic solution for that problem.

Nelson Mandela's Hospitalization

South Africa's beloved and most respectable man in the world spent two days in a hospital in Milpark hospital on last Thursday.

Mr. Mandela responded well to treatment during his hospitalization, General Ramlakan said, and military doctors responsible for his care will continue to intensively monitor him at his home in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg. The general noted that Mr. Mandela had had respiratory infections before and reminded the public that Mr. Mandela had tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment. It is a disease that can damage the lungs.

Thankfully, he is not in a very dangerous condition, so I am very glad. I do not really know a lot of about him, but my parents always said he is the man who I have to look up to. However, I think his time is coming because he is already 92 years old, it would be really sad to see him go, but I think I have to prepare for that.

Health Care Stays

Republicans were trying very hard to repeal the Obama Care, which was signed on March 23, 2010. Even when they voted for it, not even single Republican voted for it, and on January 26, 2010, they tried to repeal the bill and have failed it.

Senate Democrats defeated a bid by Republicans to repeal the sweeping health care overhaul, as they successfully mounted a party-line defense. The vote was 47 to 51, with all Republicans voting unanimously for repeal but falling 13 votes short of the 60 needed to advance their proposal.

I really do not understand why Republicans are dying to repeal the bill. This bill could save a lot of people's life, and could actually do something important to Americans. Personally, I do not have any insurance, because it is very expensive and they are so complicated, but with that Obama Care, I think I do not have to worry about going to hospital anymore.