Monday Matters #11

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-oped-1009-chapman-20111009,0,7366395.column

Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman once again discusses the Obama reelection issue, this time comparing it to Regan's presidency and the recession that had been going on during its first term. According to him, if one looks back, Obama still has a chance at getting reelected as long as the economy bounces back at least a noticeable bit. Towards the end of Regan's presidency, it did just that and he ended up winning 49 out of 50 states. The only problem is that not only is the economy in worse shape right now, but it also looks like it won't rebound back as well as Regan's did. Economists now are predicting barely any growth at all, and with only a year left to make any change (and that change, according to Chapman, being either out of reach or nonexistent) and no way to characterize the recession as something that was necessary--since inflation is still going up--Obama's chances aren't looking too great. The only thing that might save him is the fact that the Republicans look even less credible than he does, but that still won't make it an easy victory for Obama in any sense.

Monday Matters #10

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-chapman-obama-reelection,0,622512.column

Once again, Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman discusses Obama's chances at reelection but this time, it isn't as much a question of will he be reelected or not; it's a question of "is it worth it?" The Republicans now have majorities in Congress, so even if Obama does get elected for a second term, he will, as Chapman says, be wishing for the good old days of 2011 when he didn't have to wrestle with the Senate and the House nearly as much. On top of that, since his approval rating is lower than ever and since many more will now not hesitate to contradict and criticize him, it would be best to hand the Demorcatic ticket off to someone who is more situationally suited for the role, a person such as Hillary Clinton. As Chapman notes, she would have to face the grueling task of getting the country out of a recession while Obama would just sit back, relax, and not have to worry about a thing. That point is valid, but knowing Obama, he won't simply hand over the nomination without a serious fight. One way or another, winning the nomination, according to Chapman, is only half the battle since, because of the losses the Democratic party is suffering due to the failing economy and high unemployment, winning against the Republicans will prove to be a serious challenge.

Monday Matters #9

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-oped-0814-chapman-20110814,0,4936968.column

Recently, Obama's support and approval ratings have plummeted and he is being labeled as a weak president that is not capable of making the change that he promised during his 2008 campaign. However, according to Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman, the biggest reason Obama is detested even more by those that had already detested him and is disliked by some that had supported him in the beginning is the struggling economy. Uncharacteristic of a 'weak' president, he made many firm decisions, such as 'scrapping' the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy against homosexuals in the military and the approval of the daring raid to kill bin Laden. Considering those actions as well as the aid he gave to the economy, there is ample reason to support Obama, but, as Chapman says, it is nearly impossible for a president to look strong in a weak economy, which has led to Obama being compared to Carter and being denounced for his lack of backbone in leading the country.

Monday Matters #8

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/07/22/column-little-gun-control-would-be-good-america/

Rebecca Berg, who is a reporter, columnist, and editor in Missouri, recently went to study in the UK and provides several points to consider about how seriously the US takes gun control. After a mass-shooting incident in the UK, the people reacted by immediately pressuring the government for stricter gun control. She gives several statistics on how few deaths the UK experiences from firearms per year, but simply rules a recent scenario out of the statistics because it is simply 'uncommon', a serious blow to her credibility and argument. She does make a good argument, though, when she notes that at times, firearms actually infringe upon the Constitution by denying people the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The argument is strong, but she failed to mention how stricter gun control will affect law abiding citizens who use guns for self-defense against criminals--a significant percentage of the 'startling 9484' people killed in the US by firearms was criminals who had been shot by a law abiding citizen for self-defense.

Monday Matters #7

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/01/steve-chapman-gun-control-still-wont-work

Steve Chapman presents a few facts that have been ignored by most other gun control columnists, such as the plan to ban all magazines holding more than ten rounds, with the rationale that a shooter can be stopped if he has to reload sooner. However, shooters can work around that law by buying old magazines, buything them illegally, or just stocking up on several weapons instead of one. Another attempt at gun control was the proposal to make it illegal to carry a firearm near a government representative, but Chapman dismisses that as completely foolish since people may be within such 'range' and have no harmful intentions.
The clear problem, he states, is that people considered to be unofficially mentally ill or show strange behavior around others are still allowed to buy guns simply because such information doesn't show up on their background check. The one truly useful 'gun control' action would be for responsible relatives of the person or for people who work with him or her to report such activity and recommend them to get a check-up so that such information can appear on their record.
After noting some of the popular facts, such as that gun control laws only raise the amount of criminal activity and violent crime rates, he ends with a statement that sharply denounces the opposition: that they "are in no mood to learn."

This picture, made by someone who is clearly pro-gun control actually presents one of the less common points used by people from his or her side. Most of the time, their chief argument is that gun control helps prevent crime by taking guns away from criminals, but this cartoon depicts how government is involved as well, and that if people can possess guns as they please, not only will the crime rate increase but there will be anarchy as well. It also denounces the gun control opponents as those who prefer anarchy and crime to order and government--displaying the man frowning equally at taxes, government, and regulations--associating them with Somalians, a group US has been having a lot of trouble with in the past years. The one flaw that exists is that this strictly denounces the other side in order to promote their own cause instead of trying to get some opponents of gun control to switch to the pro side.

Monday Matters #5

http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/critical_issues/1995/gun/

The bottom line is that gun control is not crime control. There have been no evident links established around the world, Canada, or the US specifically that state that banning firearms or making laws regarding them stricter actually makes the crime and suicide rates go down. In fact, such laws only apply to the law-abiding, and criminals for the most part use illegally smuggled firearms to begin with, making these laws hurt only the lawful owners of firearms that use them for self defense. Also, laws that make more and more firearms illegal to own and make people subject to search and confiscation infringe upon people's rights and privacy, which would make more and more people simply disobey the law and not register the weapons they own that are made illegal. The best course of action to take is to educate people about firearms and using them, not impose stricter punishments, which will not help the situation and will not save lives.

Monday Matters #4

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0210e.asp
"Can Gun Control Reduce Crime?", Benedict D. LaRosa, Oct 2002

Many gun control advocates still use the various shootings in schools or armed assaults across the nation as evidence to support the theory that stricter gun control laws will actually prevent crime involving firearms and lower murder rates in the country. However, they seem to be forgetting that criminals engage in enough illegal activities already, so they won't be stopped from obtaining guns by this law--the only people that will be stopped are the law-abiding citizens that user firearms as defense against attackers, rapists, and so on. There are several statistics showing that states that had enforced gun control laws had since seens their violent crime and murder rates rise by a notable factor, while states that have almost no gun control laws have some of the lowest murder rates in the US. More often than not do people use guns to stop a criminal than with criminal intent, and it is those people that will have their self-defense weapons taken away, not the criminals, with stricter gun control laws.

 

            The above picture was taken seconds after a serious crash of Sauber F1 Team driver Sergio Perez during the recent Monaco F1 Grand Prix. At the time the picture was taken, nobody knew if the Mexican driver would even survive; he wasn't moving inside his car or responding to his race engineer over the radio, asking him if he was alright.
            The photographer took this image, however, with several things in mind. The most evident is how grayscale the image is, with the asphalt, shadows, rails, and even the buildings to the right all some shade of gray. The only thing standing out is the craine and the crushed safety barrier in the middle of the image that automatically attract the viewer's eye to that specific point. The car is clearly severely damaged, but the way the image was taken, it is hard to see exactly how bad or if the driver is OK or not, which mirrors exactly what was going on in any spectators' minds. Another thing the photographer decided to include in the image--having to zoom out a bit and sacrifice clearer detail--were the skid marks at the bottom right of the image. These not only show that the car crashed into the barrier while going in a straight line, but also that it was going blindingly fast. Looking at the image, anyone that hasn't even seen the footage of the crash can imagine how terrifying it really was and how severe, immediately sparking sympathy in hearts of anyone, not just Sergio's fans.

Monday Matters #2

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/09/04/andrew-sullivan-asks-did-osama-win-on-9-11.html


We now know that the chief goal of Osama bin Laden and his attacks on 9/11 was to provoke a civilizational war between Islam and the West. He used the attacks, on innocent people as well as the government, to provoke panic, fear, and devastation, which would later lead to irrational action. We, of course, followed the government and took this bait, dispatching troops to Iraq to engage in the war bin Laden hoped to start. It was a foolish decision, as it has now put the country into an economic recession and cost us countless lives, but we, in our panic, couldn't do anything but follow the government, and the government's choice was war. He succeeded in that area, but he never really succeeded in making a lasting conflict between the West and Islam. The US is finally pulling troops out of Iraq and we have chosen, of all people, Barack Hussein Obama, to lead the country that was supposed to oppose Islam. Bin Laden wasn't the one that won, it was us that lost; we lost ourselves to our fear and to general panic.

News Article Summary

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41672-KHL-team-Lokomotiv-Yaroslavl-plane-crashes-kills-36.html
 On the seventh of September, a plane carrying the whole Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Russian hockey team, the coach, medical staff, and the plane's crew crashed outside the Yaroslavl airport, northeast of Moscow. All crew except for two people was killed, and the two that survived did so with major burns. The cause of the accident is not yet known, but it is certain that this is the worst accident in hockey history. The plane was carrying players and team members from several different countries, which makes this an international event, one felt by hockey players and fans all over the globe.