Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Response to article #10 : The pluses of a regional grand bargain
Article # 10: The pluses of a regional grand bargain
- The Obama administration has declared a peace process concerning Afghanistan and Pakistan and re-establishing communication with Syria and Iran.
-Obama is considering speaking with some of the Taliban in Afghanistan to wind down the war there.
- Washington and Tehran have not talked in a sustained way for 30 years.
- The list of things the US and the West do not know about Iran is long
- Iran will settle for a deal on its nuclear enrichment capabilities; whether it wants a nuclear bomb
- Iran has already achieved its important first goal, despite intense American-led threats, warnings and sanctions.
- It has established a spinning-centrifuge-based system for enriching uranium. Now confronted with the Obama approach of talking rather than only sanctioning, the Iranians now face many new possibilities.
-Iran (like Syria on a smaller scale) is strategically placed to both talk and work on many fronts. It has communications withI raq, Afghanistan, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. This provides opportunities for the US.
- Iranian leadership has fear of bargaining with the US, because of the tension between Washington and Tehran.
- Achieving a grand bargain is complex.
- A grand bargain on Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Arab-Israeli peacemaking would require satisfying needs for all sides.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Final Focus: further research needed.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Response to Article #9
Article # 9 : Q+A - What can Obama do about Afghanistan, Pakistan?
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS IN AFGHANISTAN?
- The Taliban insurgency has gained strength
- The best business to be in is drug-running.
- The country could become a narco-state.
-Governance is poor
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
- Obama is boosting the number of troops in Afghanistan
AND PAKISTAN?
- Government is weak,
- Weak economy
- Islamist militancy and India are influencing the northwest.
- Distaset for the alliance with the United States,
- U.S missile attachs target Pakistani tribal areas.
- Hard to see stability in the region, because not only is it a nuclear weapons state, but it is a a hiding place for al Qaeda.
WHY INVOLVE INDIA?
- India isasking the same question.
-Biggest regional power.
- India has always resisted outside meddling in what it sees as an internal matter .
- Pakistani intelligence agents had ties with the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group it blames for carrying out the attack on Mumbai
- Pakistan should bring those involved, to justice before expecting India to revive a five-year-old peace process on "pause" after the attack on Mumbai.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Response to Article #8: House of Representatives Passes American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Article #8:House of Representatives Passes American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Following the vote, President Obama released the following statement:
-Last year, America lost 2.6 million jobs.
-Some of our biggest employers plan to cut another 55,000. which is a wakeup call to Washington that the American people are in need for action.
- There are many numbers in this plan.
- It will double our capacity to generate renewable energy.
-It will lower the cost of health care .
- It will modernize thousands of classrooms and send more kids to college.
-And it will put billions of dollars in immediate tax relief into the pockets of working families.
- But the one that matters most is :this recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years.
- Once it is passed, every American will be able to go the website recovery.gov and see how and where their money is being spent.
-The plan now moves to the Senate
- This must move swiftly and boldly to put Americans back to work, and that is exactly what this plan begins to do.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
response to : Article #7 Obama Plays to the Crowd at Inauguration Parade
Article # 7: Obama Plays to the Crowd at Inauguration Parade
- As the Obama family participated in this historic moment, they watched the end of the inaugural parade outside the White House, hours after Obama had addressed his fellow Americans as president of the United States.
- About 15 minutes into the parade, Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, stepped out of the limousine with a USA 1 license plate.
- A couple of moments later, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, joined them on the walk to the loud cheers of hundreds of people .
-Earlier in the day, there had been some unexpected drama on Capitol Hill. Sen. Ted Kennedy, was taken to the hospital after suffering a seizure brought caused by a "simple fatigue."
- He went into convulsions during Obama's celebratory inaugural luncheon, and was taken out on a wheelchair.
- People peered from the windows of every building near by.
"He's the people's president," Patricia Correia, 68, of Lancaster, Calif., said. "He would not be the type to sit here in the car. He knows that we waited out here this long."
-At 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, most people cleared the bleachers right after Obama walked past, not waiting for the Bidens.
- At points along the route, spectators bundled in parkas and blankets and at one spot people danced in place to the "Electric Slide" to keep warm in .
- "I came because it's about us making history," said Latori Brown, a 21-year-old black woman who'd been waiting since dawn and shivered under a blanket. "I'm not worried about the cold. It's worth it."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Liam's Third Response
By the way, I think it is a very good thing for the country that George Bush now has plenty of time to play golf.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Jeanette's 3rd Response
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Response to Obama takes his golf swing to oval office
#6. Article: Obama takes his golf swing to oval office
-Now, it has come out that he also enjoys playing golf.
- According to the Golf Digest magazine, Obama took up the game 12 years ago,
- During his recent vacation in Hawaii, he found enough time for three roundsa t a private golf course.
- Obama will become the 15th of the last 18 presidents to play golf.
-John F. Kennedy, whose average score was 80 despite chronic back pain, ranked No. 1, and Calvin Coolidge, who is said to have left his clubs at the White House after he left office, was No. 15. George W. Bush, who may have time to work on his game after Obama is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, is No. 6.
-“He’d be better if he could play more,” Marvin Nicholson,
-“He wants to play all the best courses: St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black. When he becomes an ex-president, he’d like to try to become a single-digit handicapper.”
Nicholson said Obama doesn’t curse on the course or cheat to make his score look better.
-“When he’d shoot an 11 on a hole,” Nicholson said, “I’d say, ‘Boss, what did you shoot?’ and he’d say, ‘I had an 11.’ And that’s what he’d write on his scorecard. I always respected that.”
-Nick Smith, now in the Marine Corps and stationed in Hawaii, got to play basketball with Obama on Christmas Eve at a gym near Obama’s vacation home.
-“He’s really fit, and a great outside shooter,” Smith told The Morning Sun of Pittsburg. “You can tell he’s played some basketball before.”
Big New Year’s Eve
Response to Military Poll Finds Troops Wary About Obama
#5. Article: Military Poll Finds Troops Wary About Obama
-Six out of 10 Americans in uniform are concerned about Obama's lack of military experience
-The uncertainty has to do with Obama's time for pulling the troops out of the war. It conflicts with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the Army Times reported.
- "Being that the Marine Corps can be sent anywhere in the world with the snap of his fingers, nobody has confidence in this guy as commander in chief," a lance corporal who asked not to be identified responded to the Times survey.
-The findings are results of the sixth annual Military Times survey of subscribers to Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times newspapers. Conducted Dec. 1 through Dec. 8, the survey had more than 1,900 active-duty respondents.
Nearly half of the respondents described their political views as conservative or very conservative, the Army Times reported.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Phoebe Responce #2
ps. Have you noticed in the top left corner of your blog, your title says "Barak-Obam"? Not important, I just thought I'd mention that in case you wanted it changed.
Kelsey Schwarz- Second Response
#4.Article:Obama focuses on alternative energy, environment
- President Obama insisted that he needs to develop new forms of energy and chose his energy secretary on monday who is a major promoter of alternative fuels.
- Steven chu is now working with Obama to find scientific solutions to climate change and was nominated the heaf of the Energy Department.
-"In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked with one challenge: energy," Obama told a news conference. "All of us know the problems that are rooted in our addiction to foreign oil. It constrains our economy, shifts wealth to hostile regimes and leaves us dependent on unstable regions."
-"To control our own destiny, America must develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it. And this is not a challenge for government alone -- it's a challenge for all of us."
- On his energy and environment team he has Lisa Jackson ( head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) running the Envrionmental Proteciton agency, Nancy Sutley ( a deputy mayer of LA) to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Sen. Ken Salazar ( former environmental lawyer) as the secretay of the intereior ( the Department of the Interior leases public lands for oil and gas drilling).
- Oabama will hold a meeting with his economic team on Tuesday where the nominees for all the top financial posts including Treasury Department, national Economic Council and the Pffice Management and Budget Council will be ellected.
- Obama's energy team will play a very important role in his quest to use renewable energy and create millions og "green" jobs that will ease America's reliance to foreign oil.
- "THIS TIME WE CANNOT FAIL"
-"This time has to be different. This time we cannot fail, nor can we be lulled into complacency simply because the price at the pump has for now gone down from $4 a gallon," he said.
-His team will develop policies to reduce carbon emissions blamed for Global warming and will make decisions based on facts.
-Obama has already layed out plans for a recovery of the economy and create about 2.5 million jobs, and most of them will be "green" jobs such as to work building wind farms, solar panes,and fuel-efficient cars.
Morgan response #2
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Good information . . .missing a citation
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Response to Iraq Prime Minister
#3. Article:Obama calls Iraq PM to discuss cooperation
-During Wednesday's call, Obama thanked Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Iraqi government for gaining the parliament's approval of a security pact. I sets out a three year time frame for the full withdrawl of the U.S tropps.
-Obama also gave assurances he's committed to respecting Iraq's sovereignty and to a responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces, al-Maliki's press office said.
- A spokesman Nick Shapiro, said that Obama returned calls to six world leaders, to express his appreciation for congratulations on his election.
-Obama believes resources should be reduced in Iraq and shifted to Afghanistan.
-Obama also called the prime ministers of Denmark, Holland, Greece, Kuwait and Qatar and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Response to Joe Biden
#2. Article: As Vice President, Joe Biden Will Be Central to Barack Obama's Administration
- He is going to serve as great importance to Barack Obama unlike some vice presidents in the past, some have seemed disloyal or untalented, and Biden is neither.
-Before Joe decided to accept his nomination as Vice President, he had Obama agree to meet with him once a week.
- "Biden will be especially instrumental in helping on the urgent foreign policy matters," says a well-connected Democratic strategist who has served in the White House and has known the Delaware senator for many years.
- Bide turns 66 on November 20, and is expected to participate in decision making on foreign policy, making sure that Obama's wishes are respected and his preferences enforced. He has travelled around the world and is a man who is at home in many lands. He will be an influential senator and will serve as the globe-trotter and message-bearer for Obama and will undertake diplomatic missions for the administration.
-Joe says he will not under any circumstances, emulate Dick Cheney, his predecessor, in emphasizing secrecy and trying to expand the powers of the executive branch. He says that it is time for the White House to show more respect for Congress and the Constitution. He will do everything in his power to keep things friendly with his legislative colleagues.
-"Joe will be very helpful in improving relations and in helping pass legislation, especially in the Senate," says a friend. "He is knowledgeable and well liked, and that goes a long way. He will play a pretty big role in keeping things together on the Hill."
-Joe will resign from Congress, there's a good chance that Biden's son, Beau, who is the attorney of Dela-ware who is now serving a stint in Iraq with the National Guard, will take his place. Meaning there would still be a Biden in the Senate after Joe leaves to become the vice president in January.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Response to Obama:This is your victory
#1.Obama: This is your victory
-"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there,"
- He is the first African-American to win the white house.
-Obama told the roaring crowd, "This is your victory."
-"While the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress," Obama said.
-Obama had conversations with both mcCaine and President Bush and how they can work together.
-Obama will be working with a higlhy democratic congress.
- Over 1,000 people gathered outside of the White House, yelling "Obama, Obama!"
-Obama won the state of Virginia, which has not voted for a Democratic president since 1964.
- Tuesday marks the end of the longest presidential campaign season in U.S. history -- 21 months.
-Obama, 47, will now begin his transition to the White House. He will be sworn in at the 44th president on January 20, 2009.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Final I-search Topic
Final I-Search Topic
Aimee Keushguerian
My interest in politics and economy has swayed me towards Barack Obama as a final topic. I have followed the presidential election from the very beginning. I have seen Barack Obama win against Hilary, and hopefully will see him win against McCaine. Barack Obama is my idle because of what he has accomplished in his life. Even if Obama does not win I will still be interested in him because of his act in the election and him being a large political figure.
There will be no problem with current information about Barack Obama. He is one of the larges topics in the news right now and will be a bigger topic if he becomes the first black president of America! There a lot of sites out there that have updated stories on politics, and the TV has loads as well.
I will not find as much information on the sites that were given to the class but I will find a lot of information on cnn and websites like that. It will be a little more difficult finding information about his life before the election then information on him during and after because before the election was less important to Americans.
There will be ongoing research for my topic. There is going to be current, updated information as well as old information posted all over the Internet, in magazines and in news papers. I will have more than enough information for my project. There will probably be an unbalance however. There will be a lot of current information, meaning during the election and after the election, but there will not be as much old information on Barack Obama. However I am looking into a book on his life in the library that will cover a lot.
There will be challenge to this project because my writing is not as strong as it should be for my age. But the research will be easy because of all the information that I will find. Although that might lead to difficulties in refining the information and selecting the key elements. Since this is only my second I-search paper I think that it is about the perfect level of difficulty for me.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
[Title]
Monday, October 27, 2008
New studies come out every day about global warming, so it would also be good choice to research. There is also a huge number of sub topics that could relate to global warming. Barack Obama would be a very good topic to choose, because there is a plethora of information about him in the news, and (unless he really screws up in the next week) I think he'll be our next president. My advice is that you choose Barack Obama for your topic, especially since (suprisingly) no one else has chosen him. Also, Barack The House would be a good name for your blog, but "Barack Obama" is probably better because its more formal.
Topic Choice
I-Search Topics
Aimee Keushguerin
-The World Studies class last year was assigned a major project on Darfur, and being friends with most of the students in the class felt like I was assigned the project as well! Darfur interested me because of immense disorder going on in Sudan. There is a huge problem going on in that territory and I thought it would be interesting to research it even more. I found a lot of information on Student Resource Center, and the Opposing Viewpoints sights. There was information suggesting that there is no genocide going on in the area, and information suggesting that there is a genocide, as well as if the US should intervene or not. Darfur would be an interesting topic to write about because it would make me more aware of global issues and come up with a personal resolution for the problem.
-Global Warming interested me because of the movie I watched, the inconvenient truth by Al Gore. I had watched in 8th grade in library class, and again with my parents about a month ago. The Opposing viewpoints sight showed me 141 pages of information on Global warming and opinions on rather global warming is true, or false, or good or bad. The World and I sight had 251 documents to show me. So I know that I will not have any trouble finding current information. I can also tie Global warming in with the election, due to my interest in politics.
-I have followed the presidential election very closely and my interest in Barack Obama grew. Barack Obama is like a role model to me, 8 years ago he didn’t have enough money for a car to see the debate with Al Gore, and in 8 years after being broke look where he is know! A lot of these sites weren’t as useful as I liked but when we are allowed to explore the web there will be a lot more current information.
-I would see Global Warming as my last choice for it is one of the three topics that interest me the least. My second choice would be Darfur for it is an extreme problem of sovereignty in a country , which would lead to me finding a personal resolution. After researching all three topics I have chosen Barack Obama as a final topic. I will write about his life before, during and after the presidential election. I feel like He is the topic that interests me the most, and would keep me with updated, current information.