The Politics of Gun Control

The second book I read was The Politices of Gun Control by Robert J. Spitzer.  This book was a great read that consisted of 6 chapters.  Chapter 1 talked about what gun control actually and that helped me to understand my topic and what exactly it is.  Spitzer also put in facts like “30,000 Americans have been killed annually as the result of the homicidal, accidental, and sucidal use of guns.  Chapter 2 talked about the Second Amendment and how it has been interpreted in the past and present.  When the Constitution was written there were no such thing as machine guns  so the rule only applied to handguns, but now machine guns exist and the courts have to interpret the amendment.  Chapter 3 discussed how guns effect crime.  The author talked about death and crime and also threw a chart in that showed that Americans have the highest death rate, homicide rate, and suicide rate with firearms than any other country.  Chapter 4 discussed gun politics.  I learned about the NRA, which was founded in 1871, as well as other groups for, or against, gun control.  The chapter also discussed how events like Columbine affected American gun control policy and how citizens reacted.  Chapter 5 talked about laws about guns.  The most important laws was enacted in 1968 and was called the Gun Control Act of 1968.  This law allowed the Federal Government to control how guns were sold and kept track of.  This law is why there is so much talk about gun control today.  Chapter 6 discussed gun control today and in the future.  The author talks about how gun control debates will never go away and new laws will be enacted on both sides of the debate.  The book will help with my project and its factual strength.

Staid (Vocabulary Word)

Vocab Project

Gun Control

Your children could have one of these.

The first book that I read for my research project was called Gun Control.  This book was composed by many authors and consisted of these authors battling back and forth with each other to show who had the better facts and overall better point.  There were many interesting and noteworthy ideas and facts in the book that will definitely be added to my project.  There were four main points in the book including:  Does Private Gun Ownership Pose a Serious Threat to Society?  and What Measures Would Reduce Gun Violence?  The book included many graphs and charts to show how different laws, cases, and bills have effected violent crimes with guns.  The authors who want to be able to carry concealed weapons contribute facts about how concealed weapons are making crime go down and not be a serious threat in American Society to the argument.  On the other hand the authors who want to get rid of concealed weapons tell how people would rather see a police man with a gun than a victim of a crime with a gun.  They also talk about the how the citizens of the United States have been taught to think that guns are bad and violent so why should there be more out on the streets.  It was interesting to see how the authors go back and forth and try to put each others points down.  The book was a great read and will hopefully contribute to my project and make it as good as it can be.

Coma

He may be the key to your survival.

Awaking From a Coma:  What Did the Doctors Miss?

By Eben Harrell

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1943277,00.html

This article was about a man named Rom Houben who was misdiagnosed with a coma.  Instead of a coma Houben had been completely paralyzed with no way to communicate.  The author took a hopeful tone for this article.  The author made the article to inform people about the dangers of misdiagnoses and how they can ruin fragile lives.  Houben was in an automobile accident and never recovered.  He was “locked into his body” for 23 years, but then a neurologist looked at his brain and saw that it was working just as a regular person’s brain would.  Houben now talks via a computer with the help of a therapist.  He even plans to write a book about his experiences.  I believe that if the people who said that he was in a coma would have done their jobs properly, then this man would not have spent 23 years unable to communicate.  The people that misdiagnosed him should be punished with a fine that is awarded to Houben.  This would be the best course of action and would help the man who lost so much time “locked in his body”.

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse Gases Reach Record High in 2008

By AP/Eliane Engeler–November 23, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1942397,00.html

This article was about the effects of greenhouse gases and how the dangers of these gases is becoming more prominent.  The article talks about how greenhouse gases are rising because of human activity as well as the Earth’s cycle.  Greenhouse gases have been rising ever since the Industrial Revolution, but seemed to subside later, but are now back.  These greenhouse gases could contribute to the warming of Earth past livable conditions.  many people believe that this is not true, but if we don’t try to stop it now and it turns out to be real our whole planet could die, as well as the people living on it.  The article is an example of cause/effect because the greenhouse gases could effect the temperature of Earth and hurt society.  CO2 is the main offender in this greenhouse gas rise.  It has risen 2 part per billion in the last year.  If this continues the planet may slowly die.  I believe that the greenhouse gases should be taken care of with the utmost importance because if we don’t disaster could strike.  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if greenhouse gases are not taken seriously, then the temperature of the Earth could rise six degrees Celsius, this would result in floods, droughts and other occurrences that should not happen.  Greenhouse gases must be contained.

Ft. Hood

A Muslim Community Moves On After Ft. Hood.

By Hilary Hylton/Killeen

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1939547,00.html

This article was about the aftermath of the killings at Ft. Hood.  There, 13 people were killed by Nidal Hasan, a Major in the Army.  The Muslim community of Killeen was were Hasan went to pray.  It is close to Ft. Hood and the gun shop where Hasan bought his gun.  The community was taken back when the heard the news, but have learned to move on.  The soldiers that live there were treated warmly when they went back to work as well.  The article is an example of a cause and effect situation.  The killings at Ft. Hood affected this Muslim community.  I believe that the people are getting treated fine and the aftermath of the shootings has not been terrible.  I wish the killings had never happened, and I believe that the Muslim religion is not to blame for it.  I believe that Hasan must have been insane and something just pushed him over the edge.  The people on the base did not deserve to die and it is a tragic event.  Many of the people that live in the community are retired from the Army and chose to stay there because it just felt like home.  They might change that feeling now because of this event.  The Army did a great job in controlling the situation and I hope it never happens again.

Health Care=Too Time Consuming

Financial Regulation:  Way Easier Than Health Care

By Massimo Calabresi

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1936564,00.html

This week as I was searching for an interesting article, I came across this article about how a bill dealing with financial reform and how it will be much easier to pass it than health care.  I absolutely agree with this because financial reform will actually have an effect on the country, while health care will only a certain number of people.  There are three different financial reform bills and each deals with some sort of reform with banks, especially banks that have failed.  The author seems to dislike the idea of health care and I completely agree with that.  National health care is not needed with most of the population and the people that don’t need it will be forced to wait for their service because of it.  Everyone in politics is jumping at the chance to change where the country is headed and the author and I both believe that the change does not rest in the hands of National health care.  It will be a while before Congress votes on these bills but one can hope that they do get passed.

Filibusters

The Senate

A Brief History of Filibusters

By Kristi Oloffson

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1933802,00.html

This article was on a topic that I just love, politics.  Now while politics are usually found to be boring, this article was more interesting than it was boring.  The Democrats are trying to get 60 Democrat Senators into the Senate so the Republicans cannot use a filibuster.  In English that means that the Democrats will have complete domination of the Senate if they get 60 seats in it.  The author tends to lean on the side of filibusters being a bad thing because they halt Senate business and leave us, the United States citizens, waiting for Senate business to start again.  I also find filibusters to be a dangerous action in American politics.  The filibuster makes the Senate either compromise or use a cloture motion to end it.  The Senators are not allowed to do their jobs when a filibuster is present and this affects the American public.  The author also pointed out that filibuster are used by many other countries.  One of these countries is England, so I believe that we need to learn a lesson from the men who made the Constitution and try to continue to be different from the rest of the world.  The Democrats might not get their 60th seat but i still hope that the Republicans will not use a filibuster at all.

Devil’s Night

This is an example of what some of the abandoned buildings in Detroit look like.

Can Detroit Prevent a Return of ‘Devils Night’?

By Steven Gray

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1933635,00.html

This article was about how Devil’s Night in Detroit may make a return this year.  Devil’s Night’s origin is really unknown but after the riots in 1967, it seems that Devil’s Night has been a staple in Detroit.  The yearly event, which happens on October 30th, involves arson and vandalism.  The abandon buildings in Detroit are destroyed and set on fire.  This year Detroit is making a effort to stop this “holiday” by putting out “Blight Busters”, which is a team of about 500 volunteers, to stay in certain neighborhoods and keep watch for any possible arson.  The articles mode of discourse is cause/effect because it tell the effect that Devil’s Night has on the people of Detroit and the people who attempt to govern the city.  Signs have also been put on abondonded building reading “THIS BUILDING IS BEING WATCHED” so that the people setting fire to buildings will not attack these.  These people just go into a gang mentality and think that they can do whatever they want on Devil’s Night when that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  I think that this holiday needs to stop because it involves mindless and inhuman acts.  Burning buildings is not something that should be done, and neither should destroying them.  I do believe Detroit needs some major fixing and the vandalism that transpires on Devil’s Night does not help this cause at all.

Honduras Tourism

The Yellow Country is Honduras.

Honduras’ Tourism minister:  “Don’t Visit My Country!”

By Tim Rodgers/San Salvador

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932100,00.html

This article was about the how the tourism in Honduras has hit a brick wall.  Tourism was great in Honduras when their tourism minister Ricardo Martínez was in power.  Tourism started to fall when he was ousted from the country by military.  Since then tourism has fallen by 70%.  Even Hondurans are trying to leave the country and take vacations to nearby places that are offering great deals so they can get people to come.  This shows that the people favor the government before the current government.  The tourism minister is telling people not to visit Honduras because of the poor condition for everyone.  This article’s mode of discourse is cause/effect because the new government caused the economy to become terrible and the people of Honduras to no longer live there.  The economy in this new government has been estimated to have gone back 10 years in just the 3 months it has been around.  Many people are optimistic about the state of the economy, but others believe that they will have to wait a long time to recover.  This is similar to what is happening in the United States, except on a bit of a smaller scale.  Honduras can be a beautiful place, but right now it is one of terrible conditions and nothing great to see.  If the previous government comes back the people may be much happier and the economy would be in a much better position.