Transparent President Wanted

Today, Donald Trump made an extremely interesting announcement. "From the Desk of Donald Trump" he stated that he would donate $5 million dollars to the charity of President Obama's choice in return for a release of his college and passport records.

If you care to watch the 2:44 second video clip, it has been placed below.

I cannot help but think of this video as a campaign plug for Mitt Romney. Donald Trump is an extremely affluent individual (Real-Estate Billionaire and Reality TV Personality) and for him to come out with a video as such, it puts President Obama in a very difficult situation; a situation in which I believe Donald Trump strategically put him in.

During the video, Trump states that if Obama were to release his college and passport records, "[Obama's selected charities] would be very, very happy". This puts President Obama in a tough situation. If he were to decline to release his records:

A) It would appear as though he may be hiding something from the American people, and

B) It would seem as though he disregarded the $5 donation offer to charity.

Either way, if President Obama declines to release his records, Donald Trump and the American people, in my opinion, can and will spin the denial into what I mentioned previously. On the flip side, if Obama actually were to release his records, I believe that criticism of such records are guaranteed to occur.

It is my personal belief that Donald Trump may have (no pun intended) trumped Obama merely weeks before this crucial election. What are your thoughts? What do you think Obama's decision will be? What will be the consequences for such actions? Please let me know with your comments!

Unjust Deception of the Enemy?

While I was reading the New York Times online this morning, an article came up in my feed that really interested me. The topic was about usage of booby-trapped weapons during warfare; particularly within the conflict in Syria.

For more background information and current usages, please read the article here. 

I find this topic extremely intriguing. Within the article, the downsides to the usage of bobby-trapped weapons (such as bullets, mortars and hand grenades) were many, but I truly think this is an effective way of fighting an enemy. 

Case of Bullets (NYTimes.com)

One of the ways of distributing such rigged weapons (bullets especially) are to intentionally push a crate off of the back of a supply truck, hoping that the enemy will see the newly found crate as a mistake made and free ammunition for their own use. This method however, has downsides. Not every bullet can be booby-trapped, because otherwise, the enemy will stop it's usage. Therefore, a select few of the bullets are actually booby-trapped with a TNT like substance, rigged to blow up upon firing. 

Vietnamese Soldiers (NYTimes.com)

The United States actually used exploding ammunition long before this conflict in Syria. In the 1960's, the United States leaked exploding ammunition to the Vietnamese soldiers, causing mass casualties, but effectively destroying weaponry of the Vietnamese in the meantime. 

Personally, I think that this is an incredibly valid form of warfare, although the legality of it is still unknown. If physically killing someone on the battlefield is completely legal in warfare, I take a strong stance of support about this topic of purposely placing explosive ammunition and other forms of weaponry in locations which the enemy will most likely find and use. 

What's your opinion on this topic? Should this form of warfare be allowed? Please let me know!

Fun With Erasure Poems

In class today, we began to introduce Erasure poems. I happen to find this type of poetry as one of my favorite varieties. I love how a completely new meaning can be found from a conversation (or transcript in this case) by pulling words out of context. From my interview transcript, I actually made a few of my own with titles. The part of my transcript I used was basically small talk after the bulk of the interview was conducted. The topics consisted of my family personally, New Trier Soccer as well as a few others. For the sake of space, please select, read more to see my work.

Plummeting to the Record Books

Baumgartner Free-Falling

More than 24 miles above Earth today, Felix Baumgartner took a free fall. This Austrian skydiver broke the sound barrier (690 MPH) by a landslide, traveling around 834 MPH during his descent. For more on the details on his descent, please read this article. 

Part of Baumgartner's Suit

Preparing to Jump

It's truly amazing where technology has taken our world today. A man jumped from over 128,000 feet above the ground and survived. First of all, the dangers of jumping were bountiful. At a height where exposed water vaporizes instantly, any hole in Felix Baumgartner's spacesuit would have killed him instantaneously. His suit was designed with technology which physically locks the parts of the suit together, in order to ensure it's protection of Baumgartner's life. Such technology was not available or even demised in the past, making such incredible feats intangible. We live in a world today of incredible technology, allowing jumps like Baumgartner's to become a reality. It was truly one of the defining moments of this century watching Felix Baumgartner break numerous world records, while millions watched the events streaming online. 

Today, this accomplishment cannot be described as anything but remarkable, but in the future, this may be viewed as just an ordinary occurrence, possibly just the norm of skydiving. What do you think the future will be like? What achievements will be next? Please let me know with your comments below. 

Just Another Day Off?

(Original 10/8/12)

(Revised 10/26/12)

Although Mr. Bolos has already created a blog post like this one, I feel the topic is pertinent enough to create another one similar to it, but with a whole different twist.

To many students across the nation, Columbus Day is just another break in the schedule of their school years. In my mind however, this day does not deserve the recognition that it has received.

Cristoforo Colombo and crew

Christopher Columbus (Americanized from actual name Cristoforo Colombo) stole the discovery of America from a Viking group led by Leif Eriksson. Yes, Cristoforo Colombo was the first official Spaniard to discover the United States we know today, but not even near the first one to do so.

Leif Eriksson discovered America 500 years before Colombo did and hasn't received even close to the amount of recognition Colombo does. Well, Leif Eriksson does have his own day of recognition, but it's hardly known at all and happens to be the day after Columbus Day.

Leif Eriksson

Americans in general tend to favor being regarded as a civil and progressive. The Spanish undoubtedly were civil and progressive at the time of Colombo's discovery of America, whereas the Vikings weren't as much. For these reasons, I think that Columbus Day is widely commemorated. Why not just credit the discovery of America to respected and notable Spaniards instead of the less impressive Vikings? It's truly a highway robbery. 

In contradiction, Americans love being first, the best, however you want to describe it. With this said, it comes as a shock in my mind that Americans continue to regard Columbus as the first person to discover America. With our incredible transfixion on being the first person or people to do something, it would only seem like the American norm to commemorate the first person to discover America -- Leif Eriksson. However, this is not the case and Columbus Day, celebrating the "runner-up",  is continued annually; directly contradicting the strong American value of being first. 

What do you think? Do you believe that Leif Eriksson day should be celebrated to conquer American values instead of Columbus Day? and or, should Americans continue to celebrate Columbus Day for purposes of relation with a progressive culture? Please weigh in with your thoughts. 

Refreshing Sportsmanship

Miroslav Klose, Napoli Forward

        Last week, there was a soccer match between Napoli and Lazio Roma. Miroslav Klose, a Napoli forward, apparently scored a goal off of a corner kick. However, he knew he didn't do it legally. In soccer, one of the most basic rules is the fact that all players except for the designated goalkeeper cannot use their hands. After the corner kick came sailing towards Klose near the goal, he reached up with his hand and re-deflected the ball into the back of the net. In real time,  the ball seemed to cross the goal line legally, but instant replay showed otherwise. Lazio Roma, the team that was scored on, knew immediately that a hand ball was the reason for the goal. As mentioned earlier, so did Miroslav Klose. What was the most refreshing part of the situation, was that Klose admitted to his illegal goal; he told the referee and the goal was promptly discredited. The video of the goal (although unfortunately in a language other than English) is included below. Klose and Napoli are wearing black, while Lazio are in blue.

      The reaction to Klose's admission of his handball goal has been overwhelmingly positive. Taking into account however that this took place in Europe. 

       I believe that if this same situation was to arise in a popular event within the United States, the player in Klose's position would be lambasted as a flake of a player who doesn't care about winning. Although it's extremely unfortunate, I truly think that Americans, and sometimes myself included, care about the game over fairness and the rules that make games what they are.

       One example of such, was a situation that arose during a football game between the Packers and Seahawks. Seahawks wide receiver, Golden Tate, committed an infraction of shoving another player en route to catching the game winning touchdown pass from Russell Wilson. With no time remaining at the time of the catch, had the penalty of shoving another player been called, the game would have been over. Golden Tate did admit to the fact that he shoved the other player, in this article.  

One major problem: it was after the game was over and his team had already won. 

In conclusion, I truly think the difference is the mindset of Americans versus that of Europeans. Americans are all for the slyness of the game and short term prosperity, whereas that of Europeans, as shown by Miroslav Klose, is all for the fairness and enjoyment of the game. 

Desensitization of Warfare

       When walking through the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, this photo really spoke to me. The picture shows many names, which is most probably a United States war memorial based on the layout and color scheme of the names.
        Immediately, when I look at the sheer number of names in such close proximity, my sentiments towards the victims are somewhat unclear. On the contrary, when I look at the individuals names, the feelings return ten-fold. The thought of so many people losing their lives in the line of duty is extremely sobering. Every single person on that wall had a story and especially, devastated loved ones upon hearing the news of their deaths.
        In my generation though, I feel the meaning of each individual to their loved ones gets lost due to the insensitivity of video games. As one can see in the video below, the mass killings of many people is celebrated, while in real life, those deaths would be absolutely devastating to loved ones.

        Now, this may not be the case will all video gamers. Some may have actually lost loved ones in the line of duty for the United States and other countries around the world. This being said, I do truly feel that many kids of my generation have been desensitized to death through warfare because of games such as the one shown (Call of Duty: Black Ops). Personally, I find the game extremely entertaining, but have to constantly remind myself of the realistic side of warfare. In addition, pictures like the one I saw in the Columbia College exhibit help me remind myself of such warfare realities.

September 11th Thoughts

         It's September 11th, 2012 today; Also, 11 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Today in class, these attacks were a main focus of ours. At one point during the discussion, Mr. O'Connor pondered why the less than 3,000 deaths of this event attracted such attention in comparison to other horrific events around the world with higher death tolls. My answer is simple. The September 11th attacks were truly the first significant attacks on the United States since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, triggering U.S. official participation in World War II. Also, because the United States is such a perennial powerhouse in the world, a huge attention was drawn to the terrifying and unexpected event.

         Going furthermore in depth with the discussion, we were shown images from the fateful day, considering their weight as to being the representative image of the attacks. The images surely had deep meaning, but in my mind, it would simply be insensitive to place just one image on the string of events. If one had to be picked though, it would be impossible to decipher between choosing: the planes hitting the buildings, fire raging, billowing smoke, desperate individuals in windows, jumpers, firefighters, debris, dust covered civilians or thousands of other possibilities.

         National Geographic put together, "9/11: 25 Indelible Pictures," the set of images perfectly replicates my befuddled state as to putting a finger on the one picture that represents the infamous morning correctly. I feel the collection of images does a fantastic job of portraying the various events of the morning.

         The true depth and gravity of the attacks are not just extremely saddening however. The men and women affected and involved were true heroes and inspiring figures from the day. Instead of cowering in the face of a pair of burning skyscrapers, these heroes gave the most selfless gift of all: their lives for the lives of others. For this reason, I am truly proud to say that I am an American and that we have such selfless individuals in this country, willing to give their lives up for the sake of others. God Bless Them.

       

DNC Concern?

        Now that these past two weeks of National Conventions have come to a close, analysis, accusations and projections will surface before the November elections begin. I happened to watch President Obama's speech on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, but the view count as a whole decreased from the view count of 2008. A 2.7 million view decrease in fact.

       There are many possibilities as to why the view count decreased on the final day of the convention. Some of my ideas as to why the viewers tuned out are on opposite ends of the spectrum: Assurance of presidential re-election or a sign of hopelessness. 

       Both ideas have rationale. On the side of hopelessness, President Obama failed to come through on some campaign promises, like closing Guantanamo Bay, creating a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners and repeal the Bush tax cuts for incomes > $250,000. In regards to potential confidence, President Obama succeeded in providing more opportunities to small businesses, began pulling brigades out of Iraq and ended the use of torture. For more promises which were followed through on and broken, visit this page at PolitiFact.com

       It will be truly interesting to see what the decrease in views of the President's speech pans out to mean come election time. Do you have an opinion on what the decrease of views may be because of? Let me know in the comment section below!

Coincidence or Purposefulness?

     Where is the line drawn between coincidence and purposefulness? It is certainly a topic in which many heated debates will stem from. Just yesterday, August 30th, a man was killed after plummeting 35 feet to his death at the Georgia Dome while watching a college football game. Of course, such an event is tragic, but the coincidence is certainly one that has to bring foul play to mind. Just ONE day earlier, a fan watching a pre-season NFL game at Reliant Stadium in Houston fell 60 feet off of an escalator, killing himself as well.

     Such deaths from falling at sports venues happen so infrequently, it's extremely suspicious that two instances would happen in consecutive days. This being said, I cannot help but think that sick, opportune people used the freak nature of such deaths to pull off murder. Whether murder can or will be proven in the mentioned cases, a seed of doubt has been planted in my mind to say the least. I hate to think that after seeing the death of an individual from falling at a sports venue a day previous, led another man to die, the same way, just one day afterwards by way of another intentionally pushing him. Such a death would be extremely easy to cover up, saying the dead individual simply slipped over the railing, where the perpetrator had actually pushed him. It's a sobering thought to ponder, knowing that deaths that appear coincidental and freak, could really just be a devious cover-up; performed by a individual trying to pull of a murder and make it seem like an accident. Although this may not be accurate in either instance, the freak nature of these accidents, happening in such rapid succession, makes the deaths seem extraordinarily unusual.  What do you think about uncommon occurrences taking place in eerie succession?