Bringing Rap to the White House

Rapper, Wka Flocka Flame, announced he is going to be running for president in the 2016 elections, which he promised a few years ago. On the top of his to-do list is making 4/20 the best day of the year, outlawing dogs in restaurants, and making it illegal for people with over a size 13 shoe from walking around in public (he suggested they instead use buses, cabs, and subways to get around). I think this is completely ridiculous and makes more of a joke out of presidential elections than it already is. Heck, maybe I should run for president when I'm old enough.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/rapper-waka-flocka-flame-running-for-president-117206.html

Welcome to California!

Californians are split on many issues involving the University of California system. Next fall the system plans to cap the number of out-of-state students accepted next year at both UCLA and UC Berkeley and hope to increase tuition to compensate for the inflating cost of numerous areas at the campuses. Californians seem to be all for capping the number of out of state students because they feel that California residents that subsequently lose their acceptance to UC schools are being short changed. However, these out-of-state residents pay more over $22,000, which actually is paying for part of their education. The only way that the universities could have adequate funds would be to either increase in-state-tuition from about $12,350 to $15,000 while also increasing out-of-state tuition by 5%, or increase out-of-state tuition from $38,000 to nearly $44,000 over the next five years. Note that this is only the price of tuition and completely excludes other expenses such as room and board.
Unfortunately, it looks like the second option is more favorable in the public opinion. Californians would rather not pay more for their education when it could be funded by out-of-staters. To me this is rather troublesome. I don't think that is fair that the tuition gap is so large residents and nonresidents. I understand that since Californians and their parents have been paying taxes to that stay--probably their entire lives in some cases--deserve to have a lower cost of tuition, but it is completely ridiculous to charge three times the amount to out-of-state students. As for the caps on nonresidents, more Californians should be accepted that nonresidents, but I don't think it is fair to accuse out-of-state students for "stealing spots" from residents. Campuses like UCLA and Berkeley strive to create diverse campuses and nonresidents add to that diversity. Not to mention, the general public probably fails to see or just doesn't care that many students that may attend California institutions probably end-up becoming residents down the road. Not only would they be residents, but they'd be educated residents...just saying...
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-university-of-california-to-cap-out-of-state-enrollment-at-berkeley-ucla-2015-3

Pay to Stay in the United States

Federal authorities are investigating schools in California...student less schools. Scammers have made over $6 million dollars on charging foreign students to go to there "schools" which do not educate at all. They are only providing student visas and documentation to these students in order for them to remain "legally" in the United States. All members of the program were found to be in other states besides California. This false documentation has become a federal issue because it raises national security concerns, so it is being dealt with as quickly as possible.

This is a very interesting and concerning issue. I do not want anyone in my country illegally. I also think that the men who came up with this scheme are brilliant, but they got caught, so they can't be that intelligent. The United States needs to monitor the movement and documentation of foreigners better.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/us/california-schools-pay-to-stay-scheme-korean-chinese-students/index.html

"Parent's Bill of RIghts"

Colorado recently passed a preliminary approval for a bill that asserts a parents authority to dictate what their children learn in and the health care that they receive. This includes allowing parents to pull their children out of sex education course, illegalizing the distribution of birth control to minors without a parent's approval, the right to chose to vaccinate their children  as well as the option to opt out of school data collection at the district level. None of these "rights" are expressly written in the Constitution, but the right to parent is becoming an ever increasing issue in today's society.

I don't exactly know what to think of this bill. I do know that its completely idiotic that parents can send their children to school without vaccinations; however, I am not a parent yet so I don't know what stance I take on the other aspects of the bill. I suppose that parents do not have to allow their children to participate in sex education classes, and most people probably do not like their kids sneaking around their back to get any kind of drugs. None the less the "Parent's Bill of Rights" should not be passed simply because it infringes on public safety issues. I think that the rest of the bill would be acceptable to pass. I'm just glad South Dakota hasn't tried to pull of anything like this yet. It complicates things.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27506232/colorado-gop-pushes-through-parents-bill-rights

11 Year Old Murderer

The only thing that I can say about this article is wow. I find it really hard to wrap my head around the fact that and eleven year old girl could beat a two month old infant to death. The girl remains unnamed because of her age, but the details of this sickening crime was released to the media. The mother of the girl was babysitting the infant named Zuri. When the mother fell asleep her daughter went upstairs are beat the Zuri, which caused her to sustain severe injuries to her brain, spleen, and liver. Police officers responded to the call and the new born was taken to the hospital where she died.

 The incident took place in Ohio and the girl was put on trial for murder. When the judge asked her if she understood the charges filed against her, she said that she did.

In my opinion this girl has to have something psychologically wrong with her. Most children this age are traumatized by their pet cat killing a bunny while it seems that murdering a human child doesn't even phase her. Her situation will likely only get worse too.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/us/11-year-old-charged-with-murder/index.html

Teenage Terrorists

The FBI is concerned with the recruitment of teenagers by ISIS and other terrorist groups. Some have even been reported as being as young as age 15. Although the FBI monitors those that travel to the Middle East they do not keep track of those who travel to Europe where they can then easily travel to Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries. Right now the government is trying to find and remove all threats that they find. However, the agency is still concerned with terrorist groups within the United States. They are also facing questions from the public on their ethics of invading the privacy of American citizens.

Quite frankly, terrorists deeply worry me. I am very concerned that there is going to be more attacks on U.S. soil no matter how hard the government cracks down on security and finding threatening groups. I know that no one likes the government prying into their lives, but it may be worth it to neutralize terrorists. However, I fear that this power may also be abused in the future. I guess that only time will tell.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/politics/fbi-isis-counterterrorism-michael-steinbach/index.html

Snapchat in Politics

Possible 2016 Presidential candidate , Ron Paul, was interviewed by CNN by the ever-growing Snapchat. He was discussing  whether drones should be made illegal or not after the recent incident at the Whitehouse. He simply stated that drones should be used according to the Constitution and if one were to fly over his house he has a shot gun. Although I found his comment to be comical, I would like to focus on another aspect of this article that I believe to more concerning, Snapchat.

After the release of the new update a few days ago it seems to be that Snapchat is more popular than ever. The elimination of the "best friends" list probably made the lives of sneaks and cheaters a little easier while the daily stories from popular magazines and newspapers have provided a new twist to the app, but I think that this is only the beginning. I think Snapchat is going to take over our tech filled worlds. It may seem rather inconspicuous and simple, but as this recent update shows it is evolving. I cannot say for sure what direction the makers of Snapchat are taking there app, but I predict that it is going to run our lives by becoming our main source of communication, news, entertainment, and who knows what else without us even realizing it.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/rand-paul-snaphat-interview/index.html