current event #17

Donald Trump solidifies his lead, but leaves many nervous

   Donald Trump is in his strongest lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. However, nearly two-thirds of American voters say they are concerned or frightened by the prospect of him becoming president. Due to his bluntness in saying to keep immigrants out and to remove all Muslims from entering the United States are one of the main reasons for this. Trump dominates the support of 35 percent of Republicans primary voters, leading his closest competitor Ted Cruz. However, it still not certain if most Republicans would vote for him because a 64 percent of them say it's still too early to be sure. However, there is a slight comparison of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump by 24 percent of voters expressing concern and 40 percent fear about what Mr. Trump would do if elected president, whereas 23 percent said they are concerned and 34 percent scared about the possibility of a Clinton presidency. Overall, the nationwide telephone poll was conducted Dec. 4-8 with 1,053 registered voters, including 431 Republican primary voters and 384 Democratic primary voters.

    This affects me in a way that does in fact get me nervous about what the U.S. citizens would choose to be our leader. In my opinion, Donald Trump would make a horrible one because I think he wouldn't get the job done. Hillary Clinton may express some uneasy opinions to the public but at least she has some good values about what she wants for the country. I read that some people are voting for Trump to just vote because of how "funny" he is and I think that's absurd. Overall, I hope we have a leader who will actually do something to help and support the U.S. 

Thee-Brenan, Megan. "Donald Trump Solidifies His Lead, but Leaves Many Nervous." The New York Times. NYT, 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

current event #16

San Bernardino shooters 'supporters' of ISIS, terror group says

    Recently on the news there was a shooting massacre in San Bernardino, California that killed 14 people and injured many more. It was believed to be a man and a woman who were supporters of ISIS. When ISIS heard of this, they didn't know of them but called them "knights" or "soldiers". Authorities searched the married couples home and saw weapons and a makeshift bomb lab which made everyone automatically assume they were terrorists. The couple seemed like very ordinary because the husband, Farook, was very involved in the community. A law enforcement source said that investigators are looking into whether the reason of their massacre was because of a workplace issue on religion. This was a tragic event that sparked all over the United States and how close to home some of the dangerous people who are out there.

     This was absolutely surprising to me because San Bernardino is a very untroubled city because I do in fact have some family who live down there. It's just scary to know that they Farook and Malik lived ordinary lives and something or someone triggered them to act this way and actually attack innocent people. This is a wake up call to everyone in the United States especially since there have been many terrorist attacks lately around the world. I hope those who are deceased, injured, and the families of the victims get justice. 

Karimi, Faith, Jason Hanna, and Yousuf Basil. "San Bernardino Shooters 'supporters' of ISIS, Terror Group Says." CNN. CNN, 5 Dec. 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.

current event #15

After Paris Attacks, Hillary Clinton Unveils Her Plan to stop ISIS

      The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and other places across Europe and the western hemisphere has brought the attention that this is a huge issue. ISIS, in particular, has been responsible for these attacks it has gotten to the point where the U.S. is going to take action. Hillary Clinton, for example, figured out an idea to defeat the Islamic state and she plans on taking Obama's strategy in Syria and Iraq combined with an effort to the groups internet access, vital supplies, and new fighters. 9/11 and Paris was compared and Hillary says that the United States allies stood by us and now we should stand with Paris. Hillary also lashed out at the Republican presidential candidates because she accused them of "scoring political points" by mocking Democrats, blocking out all refugees, or only allowing Christians. Overall, she says that majority of Muslims aren't terrorists and that our priority should be how to fight the enemy.

       In my opinion, I completely agree with Hillary. As what most people would think, the most human thing to do for Paris is to help them. When the 9/11 attacks happened, many of our allies, including France, helped us. Also, I think we should let refugees in to have them feel safe during these horrible times. Any of the candidates running for president, Republican or Democrat, should feel the need to help other countries especially since many are against ISIS. Hillary is sending a good message to encourage the U.S. to support those who have fallen. 

Bredderman, Will. "After Paris Attacks, Hillary Clinton Unveils Her Plan to Stop ISIS." Observer News. Observer, 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

current event #14

Donald Trump: 'Maybe we should boycott Starbucks'

    Donald Trump joins in on the Red Starbucks cup controversy earlier this week. Many Starbucks lovers and Christians are questioning why there wasn't any "Merry Christmas" messages on their annual holiday cups. Trump delivers a message of boycotting Starbucks to bring back the Christmas-themed cups. Starbucks recently said that they did in fact remove "symbols of the season" used in the past such as reindeer and ornaments. Some Christian leaders have long attacked secular businesses for waging a "War on Christmas" and prevented customers and employees from sharing Christmas greetings. Although this may not be a serious topic for Trump to talk about during his time running for president but he does say "I guarantee if I become president, we're going to be saying 'Merry Christmas' at every store."

   I find this kind of amusing how many people are making such a big deal out of this whole holiday cup controversy. I think that Starbucks wasn't trying to offend anyone or anything in any way and just wanted to use simple red cups this holiday season. Donald Trump chimed in on this issue to probably just say something about it. In general, there are many other things to be worried about other than Starbucks cups. 

Schleifer, Theodore. "Donald Trump: 'Maybe We Should Boycott Starbucks'" CNN Politics. CNN, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.

current event #13

Donald Trump Takes Shots at Ben Carson after accounts of his youth are questioned

       In the past months of the presidential election, Donald Trump has been hitting Ben Carson with negative things about him. However, it is said in polls that Carson is leading and leaving Trump going down. Carson has some background on a violent childhood and Trump is trying to highlight them if they're true or not. On Friday, Mr. Trump wrote, “With Ben Carson wanting to hit his mother on the head with a hammer, stab a friend and Pyramids built for grain storage — don’t people get it?”. This could either make or break his time in the elections but overall Carson has surpassed Trump in several polls nationally but Trump has increased his criticisms of Carson. This could lead to Trump telling inconsistencies in his stories of his childhood.

     This affects me politically because I think it's immature of Donald Trump to criticize Ben Carson in that way. If what he says about his youth is actually true, then yes it could affect him but it's his past. The past should be left in the past in my opinion and those who are against Carson should focus on what he has to say now in what's going on in the present. Overall, hopefully Trump realizes that his unnecessary actions are uncalled for and unprofessional. 

Haberman, Maggie. "Donald Trump Takes Shots at Ben Carson After Accounts of His Youth Are Questioned." NYTIMES Elections 2016. NYTIMES, 5 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

current event #12

  Clinton 'sees merit' in Obama's decision to send troops to Syria

    As things began to stir in Syria, Obama wants to take action. By this, Hillary Clinton supports Obama to authorize the use of special forces in Syria. she opposes the U.S. getting into a ground war in the Middle East and strongly supports ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and suffering and bring Syria's community together to confront ISIS. It is said that they are deploying 50 Special Operations forces to Syria where it is Kurdish-controlled to help those fighting against ISIS. President Obama expects this to be a huge impact to help support Syria in a way to fight against ISIS. Clinton is taking a part in this because she has been more involved in Syria than Obama has and during her time in secretary of state, she advocated a no-fly zone over the country work for more arm rebels.

    This affects me in a way that the President is doing the right thing by bringing troops to Syria. However, some may disagree but in my opinion it would be nice to give Syria the support that they need. Syria is well driven terrorist country that opposes the U.S. but with what's been happening then I think Obama is making a good decision to do this.


Merica, Dan. "Clinton 'sees Merit' in Obama's Decision to Send Troops to Syria." CNN Politics. CNN, 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

current event #11

Santa Clara County: Shigella outbreak victims now up to 110

   Recently a downtown San Jose seafood eatery has affected those who have ate there or those who came in contact with the already infected. This disease is usually transmitted through the unsanitary actions of the workers at the restaurant by not washing their hands. This outbreak reached one of Independence's Mr. Meisner as he is 2 year regular at that restaurant and he was one of the first to file a lawsuit on the owner and restaurant. This infection can be very serious and in rare cases, fatal, and easily transmitted. Overall, it's crazy how this restaurant passed two health inspections yet now it did this to so many people just by being unsanitary.

   This really does scare me because when you walk into your favorite restaurant knowing exactly what you want to eat and later realizing how unsanitary it was handled is very unsettling. This makes me look closer at the places I go to eat now because I would never want this to happen to me. I hope those who were affected do file lawsuits on this restaurant because I definitely would. Overall, this was very scary and hopefully those affected have a fast recovery.

Rodriguez, Joe. "Santa Clara County: Shigella Outbreak Victims Now up to 110." San Jose Mercury News. SJ Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

current event #10

Bernie Sanders: Americans Are Sick Of Hearing About Hillary Clinton's 'Damn Emails'

    During the Democratic debate, there was a topic that was specifically targeting Hillary Clinton and her private emails. It has been a huge controversy throughout the past few months since she is running for president and many seemed to put this against her. During the debate, Hillary is aware of all the commotion that has been going on about it but she has owned up to it already. She doesn't try to hide it from the public because as of right now she is not guilty and her private emails aren't illegal since there isn't much evidence. When Bernie Sanders got the change to talk about it in the debate, he bluntly states "Enough of the emails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America." He states that this topic not "great politics" and everyone should be focusing on the environment, taxes, world problems.

    This affects me politically because I absolutely agree with Bernie. People became so tied up on this topic that they forgot about the real problems going on around the world. They use Hillary's private emails to put this against here in a bad way. They can't really put her at fault because they don't know if it's legal or not. As for what Bernie mentioned, we shouldn't judge someone because of a simple mistake and instead look at what they're actually try to make right for the United States.

Levine, Sam. "Bernie Sanders: Americans Are Sick Of Hearing About Hillary Clinton's 'Damn Emails'" Huffpost Politics. Huffington Post, 13 Oct. 2015. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-emails_561db703e4b028dd7ea5ada3>.

current event #9

Donald Trump's immigrant wives

      As far as the elections go, the topic of Donald Trump hating on immigrants has been the highlight. However, it seems like he's quite the hypocrite that some of his family members and wives were immigrants as well. They may not be of those crossing the Mexican border but it is the same concept of other immigrants coming to the United States. His mom for example was born in Scotland and his current wife, Melania Trump, is also an immigrant from Slovenia that moved to New York about 20 years ago. After she was married to Donald Trump she became a citizen a decade after arriving in America. As everyone may know, to become a U.S citizen is a long process and it was to Melania. Also, his first wife, Ivana, was also an immigrant from Czechoslovakia and didn't become a citizen for another 11 years after their marriage. Overall, it's very ironic that he brings up immigrants as a horrible thing yet he knows immigrants close at home.

     This effects me politically because I believe immigration has always been a beautiful thing for the United States. Although Trump may be right on some bad parts of immigration but it has always fascinated me. When I first heard about his opinion on it, it surprised me because I've always wondered if he knew anyone personally that was an immigrant. By reading this article, now I do know that he has been a hypocrite this whole time. Although his mom or wives may not be of Hispanic descent, immigration's definition is anyone from around the world that comes into America is considered an immigration unless guaranteed citizenship. I guess Donald Trump just has something against Mexicans and their border when the U.S has it's border with Canada and he has no problem with it. 

Frates, Chris. "Donald Trump's Immigrant Wives." CNN Politics. CNN, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

current event #8

What Trump's tax plan means for Trump's taxes

    Throughout the course of Donald Trumps outrageous opinions and statements, he may actually help the United States economy. He says that under his tax plan, he will use his money as a way to give back to the U.S. This will not only benefit the middle class but for those in the upper-income bracket that will help substantially. Trump believes that if he were to help the country then he thinks the economy will do so much better. However, it is not known if he will end up paying more because he has yet to release any of his tax returns and has refused to disclose his effective tax rate. Also some real estate investments are also considering the interest in Trumps tax plan. It's unlikely that he will pay more out of his part because his main issue is to eliminate the estate tax. Overall, this may shed some humanity on Trump as he is running for president because of all the nonsense he has been building up over the past few months and hopefully they will see his tax plan in some good light.

     This affects me politically because seeing Donald Trump actually doing something right, or as what I've read, for the first time. His plan is actually not so bad and can benefit many of the middle class as well as the economy. I think many would disagree with this but Trump has a good point on why he wants to do this for the United States. Also, I think some candidates don't really focus on taxes since there is so many other issues to worry about but taxes are a huge problem in today's economy. I've read that Donald Trump is one of the leading candidates and if for some odd reasons he ends up winning, then I support him on this issue. 



Diamond, Jeremy, and MJ Lee. "What Trump's Tax Plan Means for Trump's Taxes." CNN Politics. CNN, 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/28/politics/donald-trump-taxes/>.

    

current event #7

Bernie Sanders: Ben Carson 'just very wrong' on his Muslim remarks

      As the Presidential elections are coming closer, many candidates are opening up to their opinions about specific things. For example, Ben Carson recently talked about how he's against the belief that Islam would be consistent with the Constitution. Carson replied to this saying that he wouldn't advocate to put a Muslim in charge of the nation and he strongly disagrees with it. As soon as Bernie Sanders heard of this, he was immediately disappointed  in him. He said that Ben Carson was "wrong" about discriminating Muslims especially if they were to be involved in politics. Bernie replied saying that as United States citizens we should be judging candidates based on their views and abilities not by the color of their skin and religion. However, Carson bluntly said that he simply does not care who runs for office he just wouldn't support them if they happen to be Muslim.

     This effected me politically because I think Ben Carson is simply being a hypocrite. Since he's the only African American running for president he shouldn't be discriminating others such as Muslims. This absolutely makes him look really bad and may lose some supporters along the way. Bernie Sanders standing up for what he believes in and what is true is why people like him should be our next president. 


Scott, E. (2015, September 23). Bernie Sanders: Ben Carson 'just very wrong' on his Muslim remarks. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/politics/bernie-sanders-ben-carson-muslim-remarks/

current event #6

Obama invites Ahmed Mohamed, clock-making teen arrested in Texas, to White House

     A Muslim teenager was arrested at his high school in Texas when he brought his homemade clock to school. He had no idea what was to come when he received punishment due to suspicion of his digital clock being a hoax bomb. When he went to show it to his teacher to impress her, she saw it as a threat and quickly went to seek help. Things started to stir up with people say that this was a hate crime or people are simply quick to judge and are arrogant. Ahmed got a lot of support through social media, including President Barack Obama tweeting: "Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great,". Ahmed is an intelligent boy to aspires to to be an engineer and with this, he was invited to Astronomy Night at the White House from Obama himself. This was very kind of Obama to do this to show the world that innocent Muslims shouldn't be stereotyped as terrorists or bomb makers. Overall, Ahmed was released and now he has been racking up invitations  from top tech companies such as Google.

       This effects me politically because it saddens me how some minorities are still treated. Especially since it was Ahmed's teacher that accused him of making such thing because of his race, really shows how shallow one can be. He probably looked up to her and wanted to get the best reaction, but that's now going to haunt Ahmed probably whenever he creates another object. No one should be judged by the way they are and what they do and when I read about this, it made me question if whoever accused him of it had any humanity. It's the 21st century and people still are afraid of these things and I understand if terrorist attacks have been happening lately but to accuse an intelligent teen boy because he loves what he does is completely crazy. Overall, I'm so happy that Obama sent out that message in a kind and casual way of pointing out that this was just a whole misunderstanding and can prove it by inviting Ahmed to the White House. 

Scott, E. (2015, September 16). Obama invites Ahmed Mohamed, clock-making teen arrested in Texas, to White House. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/politics/barack-obama-ahmed-texas/index.html

current event #5

U.S. accepting atleast 1,000 more Syrian Refugees

        The crisis in Syria has been building up over the last few weeks. Recently Barack Obama has issued his administration to allow more Syrian refugees in the United States in the coming year. The pressure of accepting them has been growing because most are in need of help or other countries are accepting them as well. Syrians has been coming into the U.S. since 2011 and has now built up since the ongoing civil war. Recently, the news of the dead young children who were washed up on a shore from when they were fleeing Syria and that caused an uproar in throughout many countries. However, once their home is safe the resettlement programs are to bring them back but may cause many conflicts as some may not want to return home. Before the U.S. accepted Syrians, the Obama administration must prove to the American people that there will be precautions with the thousands of refugees coming into the country. Overall, this was a great decision by Obama and his administration to accepts these people as a humanitarian movement to help other countries who are in need of help.

       This affects me politically because I've been up to date about what's been going on in Syria and I feel like the countries who are taking the refugees in are doing an amazing thing. I was very saddened about what has been going on and the fact that Obama is taking them in is making me hopeful for those who are being accepted. I feel like with this, other countries will see the U.S. as an ally with what we have been doing. However, I think the whole bringing them back when their country is "safe" won't be the best decision as some may be traumatized and may not want to go back. I also think that if they want to stay, they should be as equal as everyone else and should be treated fairly. Overall, this is a great thing to read because now that I know that refugees are getting the help that the need is making me understand why the U.S. do the things they do. 

     


Koran, Laura, Elise Labbot, Jim Acosta, and Deirdre Walsh. "U.S. to Take at Least 10,000 More Syrian Refugees." CNN Politics. CNN, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

current event #4

Bernie Sanders strong on gun control

Bernie Sanders, a Democrat who’s running for president, claims he supports gun control. As gun use and gun violence have risen in the past month, he says this is key to enact “real, constructive” legislation. After the death of two Virginia journalists who were shot as well as the execution-style killing of a Texas sheriff's deputy, Sanders comments about gun control come in. He’s been very strong on this issue about the misuse of guns and he wants to be stricter on gun control. Recently, he voted for a semi-automatic gun ban for instant background checks on gun buyers and end loopholes that allow below-the-radar purchases at gun shows. He also wants the topic on people who have mental health issues to get the treatment that is needed so they’re not a threat to themselves or people with guns if they come in contact with one. His awareness of gun control has gotten the U.S. citizens to favor him more in a way to see what’s actually going on in their country with all the violence.

This affects politically because problems of gun violence have been going on for a long time now and it needs to stop. Laws have been passed all over the U.S. but murderers, gangs, innocent people, and even police still don’t abide by them. Bernie Sanders awareness of this topic is very important especially since he’s running for president and many people like me want to end gun violence. Guns should only be in the hands of those who are responsible to use them for legal purposes. It’s especially important to go through step by step processes to know who is capable enough to own a gun with background checks and with Bernie Sanders having this be a highlight topic, it will hopefully become more effective.

Bradner, E. (2015, August 30). Bernie Sanders says he's 'strong' on gun control. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/30/politics/bernie-sanders-gun-control-2016/index.html