Strengthening relations?

   Is the United States realistically making their relations any stronger with Iran? This question seems to daunt me as I ponder on the comments John Kerry has been making the entire week. Not only am I the only one who is confused, but so is the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He believes this is a mistake that will haunt the world forever just like the 2005 deal with North Korea did. 

   Personally, I stand neutral on this conflict. Both sides have valid points that should be taken into consideration by one another. Israel must realize that the White House is not trying to make decisions that will harm Israel, but help them be more secure from their enemies. The United States will monitor the enrichment of Uranium in the country instead of being oblivious to the fact the Iran is making nuclear weapons. 

   The threat of nuclear weapons is scary, but why use something that will ultimately end our planet if these bombs are ignited? It seems pointless to wipe out humanity all for what? To get a point across? Seems like ignorance to me. This new arms race mimics a larger Cold War between the world now. Who can build the most nuclear bombs is the most important subject on presidents agendas. Producing weapons of mass destruction does not strengthen bonds between countries, but diminishes them by adding unneeded tension. Sadly, war will continue until there is an unflawed system of trading through the planet.

Okie Funk: Dr. Kurt Hochenauer

 Okie Funk is a political blog that mainly covers political issues in Oklahoma. He has a liberal insight that really seems to draw attention from the younger generation in Oklahoma. He generates at least 3,000 unique hits a month, and the peak for Kurt is 14,000 unique hits a month. Along with those numbers, Dr. Hochenauer has close to 10,000 registered followers. For being an independent blogger that has no money being put into this is impressive. I almost try to model my layout similar to his because it's effective when reading it. 

   

   Dr. Hochenauer has had several jobs before blogging. He worked at the Tulsa World as well as many other magazines before blogging. In 2004 he started his own blog called Okie Funk. He has switched the his platform two times since he has started blogging. He switched to Facebook for the comments, due to he believes that Facebook is an easier platform to have discussions through commenting. 

   Okie Funk uses a Liberal Democratic political approach that is meant to discuss issues in Oklahoma.His posts are insightful to the younger demographic of adults in Oklahoma. His views on a national standard are viewed to be Moderate Democratic, but in the most conservative state in the United States, Moderate Democratic seems to be Liberal Extremists. 

   Economical capital and living in the past seems to be what Oklahoma does best. I feel as if Okie Funk is the forefront of the new age of libertarians in Oklahoma. The rest of America is catching up to Oklahoma, and now the leaders of the state are attempting to fight it. With insights that will eventually change the future of Oklahoma, I think Dr. Hochenauer is doing something brilliant. Leading by example of what good writing can get you. He is ethical (for means of a political writer) in blogs he post. His unique writing and usage of adjectives are next level writing that only a certain amount of writers have. His vocabulary is broad enough to not use the same adjective or verb in the same post. All of the ways that he writes is how I want to write when I blog. Crafting my blog into the way I want it will not be easy. Using what I have learned from reading Dr. Hochenauer's Okie Funk  on a weekly basis will help me succeed if I want to pursue my blog. 

   All of the things that I have learned from this class have been beneficial to me. Blogging has helped me vent out my ideas instead of just thinking about them and not knowing what to say. Blogging has helped me construct my thoughts in a more organized way compared to when I would be scatter brained while writing and jumping back and forth between topics. In particular, Okie Funk has taught me the proper formatting while still providing interesting posts that will keep the followers reading. The blog showed me how to take everything I have learned and compile it into my blog. I now know how to articulate my thoughts into constructive ideas that seem to be interesting to me at least. Okie Funk will continue to be my most read blog for years to come. The approaches he takes on issues as well as the style of writing has inspired me to write in a similar way. 

Oklahoma must move on from traditional ways

   The conservative agenda is beginning to annoy most of the younger and upcoming generations in Oklahoma. The ideas, comments, and policies that are being produced by the leaders of Oklahoma are honestly embarrassing. It's like having a grandpa that just says to much at a family dinner or after watching an hour of Fox News. Their close minded opinions about the world are ignorant, and I think that is what is ultimately the cause of the embarrassment. It's most likely they got the job through a connection that politicians made and how much money they put into their campaign, not that they are actually the most qualified person for the job.

   Obviously, not every person in the older generations has an extreme conservative mindset. Some of the more moderate republicans in the state of great insights, but the number of extremes outweigh the moderates. Ignorant comments made by Senator Inhofe, Governor Fallin, and even Tom Coburn have made Oklahoma seem like Georgia during the Civil War; ignorant and full of pride. A comment that Inhofe made on the Senate floor in 2006  “I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.” I am not gay, but I am not oblivious to the fact that we are a free country. Right? If a man wants to marry another man then let him. Same goes for lesbian relationships. These citizens have a freedom of choice. Mary Fallin also defends the school systems which are obviously failing, and Tom Coburn also voted against anything not conservative.

 Extreme conservative mindsets believe that if gay marriage was legal then the AIDS epidemic would become pronounced in the gay community. To the contrary, wouldn't it actually reduce the number of cases of the disease? Gays will have sex married or not married. That's how heterosexuals are too. There is no stopping that. If gays wanted to marry then let them. Health insurance companies would still have the same number of clients. Maybe the AIDS epidemic would subside in the gay population due to them having sex with only their spouse, but this is a completely different topic that could be carried on through another blog post. 

   Another topic that Oklahoma's leaders are missing out on is the legalization of marijuana. At least it should be medically legal. It is still mind blowing to me that alcohol can be so publicized and advertised when it is MUCH more impairing to the human body. Not only does marijuana have health benefits for those who need it, but it also has economical benefits. No taxation without representation right? Well marijuana has had more representation then any other possible crop that could be grown in America. Taxing the plant could in return put millions of dollars back into the state as well as reducing the amount of money spent fighting the drug. Colorado has made a 15% tax on marijuana profits to be put towards public education. Whoa? What? Weed can help with building better and more fair schools? The answer is yes. The tax will generate an estimated 70 million dollars a year for public schools. Coming from a public school in Oklahoma, I know that our funding for public schools is poor, let alone one of the worst in the country. There are public schools who have private donors, so this is why they can build new amenities on their campuses. Some public schools only have state funding, which in return we end up with schools with mold on the walls, leaking roofs, and teachers who get paid less than trash men do. Yeah, most teachers do not even make what the guy driving around a truck and picking up trash makes. We have teachers who do not care as much because the incentive for them is roughly 36,000 salary. With a tax on marijuana, we could develop our schools into something that would develop students. Students are the key to our future. At least that is what I gather from the grand scheme of things. Oklahoma obviously is missing that concept.

   I know that in ten years that things will be different, but it is truly annoying to me that the politicians heading Oklahoma now are so stubborn. Get over yourself and how much money you make and start caring about the people of the state. It's your job. 

The struggle of middle class students

In the early 2000's life was easy for the modern family. Living in the suburbs were the norm for most families. Fresh off the eight years of Clinton being President, the United States seemed to be set up for a booming economy. Technology was on the up as well as innovation. Retailers were making record sales, the stock market was raising percentages daily, and the poverty rate was low.

   2008 was when everything that could possibly go wrong with the economy went wrong. Exon Mobile, GM Motors, and companies like Hostess filed for bankruptcy after a stock market crash that would send America into a depression. The Federal Reserve of course came to the rescue and bailed GM motors out. Even though the Federal Reserve attempted to be the hero in this situation, people were still in the most stressing state the United States had seen since the market crash in the 1970's.

   Looking at it from a victim standpoint, I know how it feels to suffer from this market crash. My dad filed for bankruptcy while I was in high school. He was in the car business which crashed with the market in 2008.  This did not seem like a problem at the time, but it would soon turn into one for me. My high school counselor did little to nothing to help students get scholarships out of high school. The only thing she told us was to google scholarships and there would be plenty to choose from, but it takes a little more than just a Google search. I knew I wanted to go to college. I had the grades, the work ethic, and the motivation to succeed in college. The only thing that I was lacking was money. I could not qualify for loans because my father could not co-sign for me due to the filing for bankruptcy. Neither could he help me with college since he had his own financial struggles. I did not qualify for OLAP either; which is a government grant program that helps low income students. I am faced now to pay for college myself. I have no help from my counselor in high school nor my parents. I applied at many schools around the country. Every school I applied for I got accepted. The University of Central Oklahoma was my fourth option when it came to colleges I wanted to attend. The perk to UCO was that it was cheap. I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to go there.

   So here I am, no money, no hope, and the world is always pestering me for the next dollar I make. College begins to hit me freshman year with all of the backdoor charges that are not advertised when you enroll. I feel the stress of everyday life weighing down on me like a two ton car. I felt like there was no escape, and I was only 18 years old. Sure, people "say" they came from nothing. That they worked their way to where they are with no help, but I disagree. You need help to get anywhere. You can't do it by yourself even if you are the most brilliant person to walk this Earth. I began to work odd jobs and doing what I could to get by. I soon applied for a scholarship my sophomore year of college and got it. I got this scholarship through someone I knew. They knew my struggle and helped me. I had the grades and the knowledge. I just didn't have guidance.

    Here is where the government is involved. Oklahoma's higher education programs only cover the poverty line or low class families. OLAP will pay for your school if your parents are not in a certain bracket of income. What about the middle class families? The government says our families make enough money to support us, but in reality our families barely make enough money to support themselves. Higher education in Oklahoma has to be further analyzed. Middle class families are struggling more than ever. Seeing kids driving around BMW's and Mercedes really makes me wonder if it is fair to the other students that these students in upper class do not have to work. They don't have to pay for their school. They do not have to have the stress of LIFE. I am not trying to say that there should be one social class to where every citizen gets equal pay, equal rights, and so on and so forth, I a m not a communist, but I am tired of this unneeded stress that is put on the middle class student. In between work, school and organizations through the school middle class students hardly have time to sit down and relax. Believe it or not relaxing is actually good for you.  Letting yourself rest will let you be a more effective employee, student and overall a better person.

 

Even the President gets hacked

   Recently there has been confusion to whom had hacked President Barack Obama's Twitter account. Two post that were sent by this account had direct links to al-Assad. Obviously this highlighted who the hackers were, but there was one video that seemed surprising to White House officials. It consisted of multiple terrorist attacks caught on film. The first clip shown in the video was a clip of impact on the World Trade Center building two. The video was linked to Obamas tweets. The original link was hyperlinked to a post from the Washington Post.

 
    This is not the only time a high profile account has been hack, in fact a leader from the the group the hacktivist suggest that it is rather easy to gain passwords to these accounts. Why is it so easy for this to be hacked by thought to have been "amateur" hackers?
Social media affects the world opinion whether we realize it or not. It is comparable to art in the Renaissance era. Art was there to communicate to the citizens. Why? Because the citizens could not read. They were only told what was going on and what a painting described. Therefor this motivated opinions in favor of the government or the richest families in charge, such as the Medicis in Rome.

   Social Media today is the number one form of a publicized opinion. Whatever the trend is on social media then it is believed to be popular. Twitter could be the only text a person reads for days, weeks, or even a month or two. This is why it is so influential to the world. That is why I raise the question as to how are high profile Twitter accounts being hacked?

Insurance through the market

   Obama care does have its' problems within the system, but doesn't everything? There are several policies that are in place now that have malfunctions. The right to bare arms and freedom of speech are perfect examples of how policies have loop holes. We are able to patch up those holes through amendments. Policies always have the ability to be fixed. 

   Our government is set up to function by allowing people to control what happens. This is the beautiful thought of a democracy. The perfect thought of communism sounds pretty appealing as well, but the tragic end of communism is that people are not perfect. Maybe that is what is wrong with democracy as well. This may happen to be the case, in fact we have strayed so far from democracy that we can't even depend on the people anymore. The United States government is ran by the elite, not the people. What's even more confusing is that the market controls the government, so how exactly is Obamacare ripping off the rich? When this would create jobs throughout the market! The market would then provide health insurance to every person that wants it. The website tends to be slower than most, but the overall idea of the Affordable Care Act is a fundamentally based plan that leans more towards a democracy instead of capitalism. 

   There are several problems that could be compromised with Obamacare. Although the goods outweigh the bad. Insurance through the market place is what America needs, but we also need better execution to complete the program. The plan will be fixed an forgotten as Obama's idea in the next twenty years. By then it will be renamed and recreated. 

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

   For the past 250 years the United States has worked diligently to make this country a better place. Multiple wars and many treaties set the land of America free. Things have changed from the Treaty of Paris to the Affordable Care Act. Their have been rights given to the citizens of the country and rights taken away. So, what are the differences between 1776 and 2013? We have lost most of our compassion to competition. 

   Competition, to a certain extent, was considered a mental illness in 1776. People in this era based the success of their community by compassion. This means teamwork, loyalty, love, and empathy. With compassion, America overcame a barrier that many thought was unattainable by a country with that small of a budget and small of a population. They defeated the British and became a free country. America did this together. They did it by believing in each other. Little did they know that the mindset of unity and teamwork would soon collapse on itself. 

    The Civil War was an apparent sign that compassion in the states began to diminish. Racist citizens did not just think they were better than the other races in the country, but they believed that they were in fact better. This then caused inhumane acts to occur. Slavery and the Trail of Tears are great examples of these morally wrong acts. It took these significant events to happen for us to realize that maybe something wasn't right with what we were doing. All of these actions are due to being competitive with other world leaders. Slavery is free employment and Indians were just in the way. America took advantage of what they were given and it backfired, causing the Civil War. Killing over 1,100,000 children, women, and men. 

   Today in the United States the same thing is basically taking place. The mindset of competition is bread into us from the day we are born. We strive to win the spelling bee in 2nd grade, we attempt to get first place in the 6th grade science fair, we try to get the best looking girl in class because she the best looking, we overwork our bodies to be more athletic than our peers, we lie in interviews to obtain a higher position in the company, and we think this is okay. The reason we think it is okay is because we are told it is from our parents, coaches, teachers, and even our political leaders. As competition increases, compassion decreases. Signs that the worlds compassion is at an all time low are school shootings. Another is Syria murdering their own civilians using chemical weapons. Finally, America's government shutdown. The competitiveness and stubbornness of the politicians of today are ruining the future of tomorrow. 

   

   Should it take an obscene event to take place for us to realize the significance of the damage we do to others? Why do we not just have compassion for one another? What does the future of my generation look like? It could go in a number of different ways. We could have an awakening, which has happened many times in history for example, the Renaissance. Another example would be breaking the color barrier. We could change the United States and ultimately the world if we just have compassion for one another. It all depends on if people will wake from this competitive state, and realize that compassion is the key to a successful community.