Obama's Israeli/Palestinian Diplomatic Plans

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136491809/obamas-ideas-on-israel-face-tough-reception

For those of you who read NPR, it's great. For those of you who don't, it is (in my opinion) the most reasonable, fact-based news source. Some claim it has a liberal bias, but if you notice closely those people tend to be conservatives (the hard-core kind).

Yesterday Obama laid down groundbreaking new plans for the negotiations between Israel and Palestine. For once, the USA doesn't look like it is fully on Israel's side. Obama stated that Israel should accept it's 1967 borders, and Palestine should recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

"The new approach is balanced. Palestinians have to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israel has to accept the 1967 lines as the baseline for the future borders."

- Yoram Peri, director of the Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland

 The darker blue borders would probably have to be released, or at the very least the big one in the middle (The west bank). The orange towns are solidly palestinian communities, and the black dots are clearly israeli communities. Obama has put in place negotiations to allow the possibility of this to happen, by having two part negotiations. According to Peri (guy quoted above), the negotiations would be divided by "first, questions surrounding borders and recognition, and secondly, the even more intractable problems of the status of Jerusalem and the right of Palestinian refugees to return." 

This is a new way of looking at the negotiations, but unfortunately Israel has received this poorly (why would they like it, they have to give up more land). Also, big brother USA has somewhat abandoned blind Israeli support, something they also don't like. It will be interesting to see if the negotiations finally start getting somewhere with this recent development, but don't get your hopes up, because it doesn't look great yet. Expect both sides to reject this new (and frankly reasonable and compromising) proposal and argue this in the United Nations in September.

The stresses of College too much?

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/19/136243733/hard-financial-lessons-learned-in-college

Has college become too strenuous for kids? According to this NPR article, college is very stressful, but not because the workload has changed, but because of the seemingly insurmountable debt it can give a student. It puts kids under serious financial strain, and the parents of those kids under equal financial strain. When will college stop getting so expensive (seriously, how far can the money go?)? I know the age old argument of 'it's an investment, your future is going to be so bright, blah blah blah', I'm not going into anything science or math related, but rather history to become a history teacher. It's what I love to do, but it costs a lot to become a teacher that doesn't initially pay as much as I put into college. Why do we need that four year education, I just want to be a teacher? Why do colleges need this increase (taking inflation into account) in money?

University of Michigan Law Quad. Very beautiful, someone needs to pay for the upkeep.

Here are some figures: food for thought. From 1980 to 2008, it went up by 235% for public colleges, 179% for private colleges, and 150% for community colleges. During the same period, the income of the median family increased by 15%. No wonder there is serious financial strain! College, one simple question. Do you really need all of that money while putting me under so much strain??

Is it time for gay athletes to be more open?

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/18/136391234/can-gay-athletes-come-out-and-play

Can they become more open? It really depends. First it starts with the community they play in and how big the stage is. If an NBA player comes out, it would be a major headline for a day or two and then be a random follow-up story. If it is a NASCAR driver, with many hicks watching, then there will be a bigger issue. If it is a college player at the University of Michigan in liberal Ann Arbor, then it would totally be okay and there would be great support. If it is high school players, then the stage is smaller and easier to manage. So is it time now?

Answer: It totally depends. Would be okay in some situations (maybe NBA), and not okay in others (NASCAR). Good luck to anybody coming out, I totally support it and hope that others judge a person based on who they are, not what they are.

Obama's plan for the Middle East

Obama will be making a speech Thursday about his plans in the Middle East. Here is a basic recap of what has been going on and how Obama should (of course my opinion) think about what has happened and how to respond.

1. Egypt had a major revolution that toppled the Mubarak Regime. Mubarak was a harsh dictator to his people, but make no mistake, he was useful to the United States. He kept peace with Israel (important to us) and kept the Suez Canal open with no worries. Now, there is worry. If the new regime in Egypt were to violate either the peace with Israel (which is heavily unpopular in Egypt) or restrict the USA or any major country from the Suez Canal, expect heavy involvement. After all, how popular would Obama be with $6/gallon as the gas price.

 If this canal gets shut down, expect US and world action.

2. Pakistan: WE DID IT!!!! WE KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN, FINALLY!!!!! Except one miniscule problem: we need to find out how Pakistan allowed Osama to live within a mile or two of a military facility the equivalent of West Point and within close vicinity of the capital Islamabad. Obama is expected to keep peace with Pakistan, which is definitely the right thing to do. How we will patch up our now recent trust issues with Pakistan remains to be seen.

 If only he were found here. This would simplify and help eliminate US-Pakistan tension.

3. Libya: Good ol' Libya, good ol' Ghadaffi. Oh, how no one seems to care for you much, Ghadaffi. You officially ticked off every NATO country by blowing up your peaceful protesting people with tanks. You did what political scientists would call a miscalculation. You thought because Egypt was doing it, and Syria was doing it, that it would be okay for you to kill your own protesters. Small problem: no one cares for you, and likes you less than Mubarak. You are less powerful, and were more brutal. The UN, who can't seem to stop anyone, is stepping in to show its muscle against your worse than everyone else brutality. Sorry Ghadaffi, but you pissed off a lot of other people with actions like this:                          

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKw4VO-IZL0          Courtesy of Al Jazeera

Come on, what did these kids do to deserve this?

4. Finally, Syria: There are other countries dealing with problems, such as Yemen, but these are the main four countries that are under major USA examination. The USA imposed sanctions on them, and expect to continue high amounts of scrutiny on Syria. The US did this to "increase pressure on the government of Syria to end its violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system." President Bashar al-Assad won't be pleased about these sanctions, but that's what you get for killing peaceful protesters.

Yes, please do kick their asses, so that the USA can come in to kick your's Syria.

Lesson for all of these countries: The USA may be a little less powerful and less intervention crazy with Obama instead of Bush, but do NOT mess with the USA, UN, or NATO. It will be interesting to see what Obama has to say in Thursday's speech, and I will be sure to blog about that.

To honor George Washington, he would believe in diplomacy in these situations, but would most likely want to avoid intervention, as his farewell address states to do with the situation with England and France in 1796.

Until later, General George Washington
President of the Continental Army.

Introduction

Let me introduce you to my domain:

Clarification: This is not George Washington's opinion, but rather a satirical outlook on current events and modern politics. If I did give George's opinion, it would be heavily skewed due to the sheer amount of time and events that have passed after George Washington's death in 1799. The basics would astonish George Washington, such as the 300 million people living here compared to about 4 million. People calling themselves americans rather than virginians or georgians would startle the guy. People have telephones in their pocket and can communicate instantly, something not possible in a time lacking sufficient lighting, transportation, or disease prevention. Sorry to disappoint those looking for what George Washington would think, but it is simply too difficult to try to form George Washington's opinion.

This blog is first and foremost about american politics. I love America, but it has its many flaws. I do not identify as a Republican or Democrat, but rather a moderate. Sometimes I see no right answer (pun not intended). I will give the facts (snooze), and I will give my opinion (ooh, juicy). Many (probably all) politicians give a lot of Bologna Sandwiches to the american public, or as I like to call it, BS. Many individuals blog nonsense or radical opinions, which is not me. If you want a gay hating, immigrant loathing, communist supporting, disgruntled with everything about the world blogger, then don't waste your time on this blog. I try to give the informational, moderate opinion or possibly no opinion at all. That doesn't mean no fun! I am all about witty jokes, satire, and politician role play.

A little bit about myself (Congratulations! You made it through a few sentences, your attention span is now officially the equivalent of a little kid with a cell phone in hand, or you skipped through and didn't read about my blog information, tisk tisk): I like to rant (example seen in previous sentence). I love politics and have loved politics since I was little. Currently I am a college student at the University of Michigan. I'm going for a major in history and minor in german. I interweave history into my political opinions frequently, which means little history nuggets for those paying attention.

For those with too short an attention span, here is a summary (Here you go lazy people, the sparknotes of my blog for those not willing to read a measly 3 paragraphs): This is a blog about a university student's opinion in politics, not George Washington's opinion. I just happen to love George, who in America doesn't. Prepare for satirical jokes, american history, dirty politics, and most important of all, my two cents (okay, maybe the first three are more important.)

Until later,
George Washington