Middle East progression

     The Middle Eastern region of our world was once the most advanced and had the most fascinating culture.  Also, it's empires have stood through the test of time.  However, in the last 300 years the interest and the power of the Middle eastern region has significantly decreased.   As a result, of religious conflicts and the formation of industrial based countries.  We are at a time now where the Middle East is considered a place of second and third wolrd countries.
     This is also something the people there are not happy about.   People in the Middle East feel strong about their history and culture.  But, people outside think nothing of it because it is simply just history and as far as the right now goes, Middle East countries are inferior.  With such a rich history and influences on the things we do today, why aren't Middle East countries considered powers in the world?  One simple reason is because they haven't changed their government or the industries of their country.
      In most Middle East governments religion continues to be apart of the governement.  Because of this, most countries aren't willing to make strides to become a world power because it doesn't fit the standards of their religion.  Also, Middle Eastern countries have yet to go thrugh major industrializations and modernization.  For example, some of the biggest cities there look like cities from biblical times.   All I'm saying is if they're tired of being picked on by us bigger countries, then modernize, use some of the rsources you have, keep your religious beliefs seperate from the government, and probably the praise will be restored back to the Middle East.

GOP, "Pledge To America"

     As the November election is coming closer, the Republicans are starting to make a push to re-gain superiority in the White House.  They gave a "Pledge" in which they promised to end a slew of Democratic policies and restore Americans' trust in government as they rolled out a campaign manifesto designed to show they're listening to an angry public and are focused on creating jobs.  Also, they plan on blocking Obama's plan for Healthcare and social security.  With this pledge it seems like the next two years are going to be a stalemate in the White House. 
      Honestly in a partially bias opinion, I believe the Republicans in Congress are blocking all of the Democrats plans on purpose and are stalling enough so that in the election the Democrats running won't look as good as they were in 2006.  This isn't good for the country because we aren't making any progress and the Senators in the White House should just put their personal pride aside because us ctizens are tired.  And, with this "Pledge To America" how do we know it's not a return to what got us into this mess.  For now, we don't know, and all we can do is wait.

Forbes 400: The Richest People in America

          The Forbes 400 was released this week.  This year the billionaires on the list were not hit by the recession.  Some new faces are in the list such as Mark Zuckerberg, who was the co-founder of Facebook.  He like most of the people in the top 20 are in the social networking or software business.  This might be an example of how our country is changing.
         There was a time when our country's richest people were involved with automobiles, oil, etc.  Now as we are advancing, the internet seems to be where all the "get quick schemes" are at.  Like now, most people are starting to get degrres for jobs on the internet or jobs dealing with computers and other technologies.  I believe if the government is going to try and provide jobs or stimulate the economy, technology might be the route we have to go.  Right now it's kind of like we're in a technilogical revolution, how many times do you hear aout a new iPhone, laptop, or constant improvements to HDTV.
        After looking at this list, I can see where our main markets might be directed. And, the people who were smart enough to realize this too, have already been rewarded.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110765/the-forbes-400.html?mod=career-leadership

Former president draws up some controversy

     Former president Jimmy Carter has a new book, White House Diary, coming to shelves around the country soon and it's turning some heads and raising some eyebrows.  The book is basically kind of a diary of his times in the White House and some of the experiences.  Also, he explains and touches on some of the issues which he is widely criticized for.  Such as healthcare, which he proposed a bill during his presidency but it was rejected by Senator Ted Kennedy at the time.
      When he was asked about is confidence in the politics of current, and he simply said no.  He explained that with the way politics is changing and the way it's being explained is all distorted.  In his book will probably be some shocking things and probably some things that might answer questions about the actions he took in the house. That was just my opinion.  Even though, honestly, I may not read the book I'm sure I'll hear a lot about it.

Ban on Gays in the Military

     Today the Senate decided on whether it should end the 17-year ban on gays in the military.  However, the Democrats fell one vote of the minimum 60 votes to debate.  There was no Republican, that supported the repeal.  The move was widely unpopular among Republicans, military officers, and other conservatives.  Honestly, whats the point of this law.  This is one example of how America has lost it's freedom and discrimination is still alive and well.
    I am one that supports gay rights, despite the fact that I'm not gay.  I mean, it's hard to be a homosexual in this world, because the whole world is against you. In most cases, someones family, friends, and everyone around them turns their back on a person just because of their homosexuality.  And, technically it isn't racism because it's kind of an ideology and it's just the way someone is.  Just because someone is gay doesn't mean they're going to start trying to hit on the other soliders, I mean it's the military not prison I think gay people would act as if they had some class.  Also, the military is majority male-dominant so someone who isn't gay could possibly change their preference. 
    I believe this is a dumb issue and people are putting their personal pride before the by-laws of this country.  Gay people are people, just like you and me.  The sterotype of a homosexual person is completely out of wack because of what we see on tv, movies, and in stories about prison too.  For those who want to bring the bible into this, it says in short that God dislikes those engage in homosexual acts.  In conclusion, gay rights will always be rejected be our country's conservatives for the test of time because of their refusal to accept others that are different.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_go_co/us_gays_military

The Failing Industries...Past the Break of No Return

        As you know we are in an economic recession.  During this recession many businesses have folded and closed.  Even more important, many industries have been hit badly with record-breaking profit loses, high unemployment with reoccurring layoffs, and multiple bailouts and mergers. The State & Local government jobs' industry has been hit the worse. Unemployment for this industry continues to rise.  A recent report by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers found that 22 states furloughed employees and 25 laid off workers during fiscal year 2009-10.
       Most of these industries helped build our country in the 20th century.  So now that most of these industries are failing, what does that mean for the future?  Are their new and upcoming industries that will take our country by storm or are we witnessing the end of our economic stability.  However, for some of these industries people are being replaced by technology.  Just because a machine can do the work of 75 workers, it is ok to let those 75 people go. Yeah thats clever , but as sales of many products are down, it's not so bright to mass produce a product.  The Realtor industry has been shrinking day by day in the past 4 years.  As less and less homes are being sold, it's almost become inpossible to make money.  So, whatever happened to that bailout plan, hasn't worked. 
      I think one way to stimulate these businesses is to do something of the New Deal style.  Start re-building roads, projects in other countries, bring some of those foreign jobs back home.  Also, fix roken and abandon houses.  We should do anything and everything to keep our economy stimulated and people busy.  Because as I said before these markets have built our country and are the backbone.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110592/the-10-american-industries-that-will-never-recover

The Democatic Disappointment

      Back in 2008, Barack Obama entered the White House with a majority Congress of Democrats.  At that time the U.S. was in it's worse economical period since the Great Depression, and with a new president and congress there was a lot of hope for change.  Two years later not much has changed.
Out of all the promises and potential, most of it was just hype.  In November, there will be in election, and we don't know if our government will take another shape shift or fight it out with the same house that's there now.  I believe one of the reasons why we haven't made any progress is because most of the Congress men are putting their own pride before the well-being of the country.  We always hear how Obama or the Democrats purpose a bill and the Republicans reject, same in visa versa.
      Also, President Obama was put in almost a "lose lose" situation.  However, in 2006 when the democrats basically took over the house they could have prevented this economic crisis that was bubbling in the process.  All I'm saying is this situation could've been avoided, and now there's really no option.  Despite the fact I can't vote, I would like to see the Democrats in the house get re-elected and a few added because as we know Democracy takes time to be successful.  And to get out an economic situation it takes time.  It took almost 10 years to get out of the Great Depression, but the main reason why we got out is because of WWII.  In conclusion, this might be the start of very crucial elections in the U.S. and we have to pick each candidate wisely and focus on the issues; also, pick whoever will cooperate with the rest of the house.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/fineman-what-went-wrong-for-obama-and-the-dems.html?GT1=43002

Iconic 9-11 Figures and Where They Are Now

    At the link below you'll see an article on some of the people who helped extremely major parts to save the country, beyond their own job descriptions, and some others.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39038466/ns/us_news-911_nine_years_later/ns/us_news-911_nine_years_later?GT1=43001

9-11....9 years later

      Approxamently 9 years, 4 hours and 30 minutes ago, the Twin Towers that were apart of the World Trade Center, was hit by 2 airplanes.  Ever since that day our country hasn't been the same.  I mean it's nice to see that we've amped up our homeland security and honored those who helped save and risk their own lives with only minutes to come up with plans and schemes.  Also, I'm glad to see that we have moved on from it.  And those Americans who were involved, have moved on with their lives.

     However, that day had some negative effects on us.  We've blamed people who weren't even involved because politicians put there own pride before the country. Since 9/11, Americans have completely lost respect for people of Middle-Eastern descent.  Like, everytime we see or notice an Arab person, Islamic, etc. we automatically assume terrorist or suicide bomber.  Our country has gone back to the concept thinking of paranoia like the days from The Cold War. Now, with the war in Iraq and troops in Afghanistan, we've put our country in a "Lose Lose" situation. Then, for almost 20 years we've been searching for a guy whose worth more than a Professional Sports Franchise.  Because of the fact that we've never found him, I'm starting to question if he is even real, and us trying to search for him is just a plot by Al Queda so we won't try to come down on the other members. 

     All I'm saying is, what happened, happened.  There were heroes, there were villians.  The other day in class my teacher talked about how, Americans didn't believe something like 9-11 could happen at that time, and I'm realizing that he's right.  If you think back, at that time and really in the 90's, we didn't have to worry about being bombed or anything like that because all of those worries really ended with the Cold War in the late 80's. So, as the time passed our attitudes were kind of laid-back because our most biggest fear that we had, which was nuclear war, was behind us and there as nothing to fear and life was pleasant.  But now all of that has changed and everything that used to be important isn't, like the economy, healthcare, social security, etc. and the only reason why those things are being stressed is because they're falling fast, because when we had the chance to keep them steady we focused on somebody else trying to bomb our country.  In conclusion, I would like to send my condolences to the families of those who had some pass during 9-11, and a thank you to those who fought a battle home turf that day, also take a look back and see how everything has changed and shapeshifted around us.

Post #1...Cleveland is Named One of The Most Stressful Cities In the U.S.

        Before I start, I would like to take the time out to say this is he first of many posts I will be making so stay "posted" and enjoy.  In a recent study conducted by Portfolio.com, Cleveland, Ohio was ranked as the 3rd most stressful city in the country, and Detroit, Michigan was #1.  And is #1 as far as worst crime rate.  I am a person that lives near Cleveland but not exact in Cleveland.  One of the things I think of is, what are the government and people, mainly the government, dong to stop this.  I mean, they (the city) hires more policemen who do absolutely nothing while they are on the job, and a lot of times they catch the wrong people who did nothing at all.  Honestly, I know as a more poverty stricken city there will be more crime but of course there would be a high case of robberies if nothing is being done to stop it.


The link below will take you to the info for more details:
A Stress Test for America