Blog Stage Eight: Comment on a colleagues work #2

"The Struggle is Real," the most accurate phrase of 2017. This blogger,  couldn't have summed it up any better on her blog, "Justmythoughts78.blogspot.com". 2017 seems to have been an experiment for the president to see what he could get away with for the following years ahead. It's scary and disappointing to have a democracy undermine the American people; the very people it's meant to serve, help and support. User "Fre_Fre" has said everything that has been on everyone's minds since Donald Trump was elected. I completely agree with her recent post of National Government going to complete trash since Donald Trump was elected.
However, well written her opinions may be, I feel she should have some article to further expose Donald Trump to what kind of person he is. Everyone knows he's racist, misogynistic and orange; but there could have been some way to use logos and ethos to appeal to the reader's sense of logic, not just their emotions. Blog user, Fre_Fre could have made her argument more effective if she were to add links to his simple tweets, or some of his infamous decision in office. She could have used something that could have appealed to the readers other than her argument for pathos.
Despite not having hard evidence along with her discussion, she does bring up some very valid points about Donald Trump's presidency tactics. When asked about very significant sensitive topics, he tries to distract the press with the mindless banter of terrorist in foreign countries, and racist ideas to help "Make America Great Again." I feel like overall he's uncooperative, and too me manifestly unfit to be a fair and just president. Fre_Fre's blog post on the matter was very entertaining to read, it was enjoyable and a bit informative.

Post 7: Commentary on U.S National Government

In a former post on my blog, blog post number 5, I had discussed the ban on Transgender troops in the military. The article by Dave Phillips, "Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban on Transgender Troops in Military." explains the discriminatory decision Donald Trump had made against fellow Americans serving in the army because he felt transgender soldiers were a "hassle" and weren't capable of serving. Although I've discussed the issue, I feel like I haven't given my proper opinion on the personal attacks against the transgender community made by Donald Trump.  This is why I'm going to retouch upon the topic. Since Judge Colleen Kollar Kottely had shut down his ban, there has been a positive reaction from some politicians in office standing up for the soldiers who would be affected. As well as making sure that Donald Trump's decisions will no longer go unaccounted for. For some unexplainable reason, Donald Trump has been able to get away, as well as go around specific issues on the well being of millions of Americans. Opening the window for racist, malice and corrupt people to get away with more. The decisions he's made, the remarks, as well as negligence he's shown so far throughout his presidency, are appalling. It's the president's job to uphold a specific standard of conduct, any other position he's had before the administration should not be his excuse for him to act the way he does. Attacking the transgender community, people of color and those standing up for the rights of others has never been more of a significant problem, Americans as a whole nation should address and help fix. There needs to be more done to stop such an incapable person speaking for millions, making decisions that don't support anyone except people like himself.  I genuinely disagree with everything Doland Trump stands for. The ban he tried to see forward against the Transgender soldiers was a prime example of how his decisions were made purely on his own bias beliefs, instead of the significant good of the nation.

Blog Stage 6: Commentary on a Colleague's Work

I'm doing my commentary on Valerie's Views Blog: stage 5, a post dedicated to woman's health care. Valerie's post was informative, well written and relatable. Not just because I'm a woman living in such a beneficial time, but because I'm a woman who sees those who aren't as fortunate as myself, who struggle to get the option of being provided with birth control.

All the points made in Valerie's post are something that we have been discussing throughout my lifetime.  However, the issues that are solvable through birth control have not been spoken of too often, not to mention birth control being presented as a beneficial alternative. The association of birth control alone has a negative connotation in my house, which may be the case in a lot of other houses because of misconception of birth control just being for sex.

Birth control can be frowned upon mainly because it's something that's related to sex. In the Hispanic culture sex is just something you don't speak about with the young women. One just does not bring up something that could take away the consequence and fear of having premarital sex. Which can be a huge problem, many young women and men are uninformed about sex and don't learn about it until Highschool. Which is at the time most teenagers start to have sex; the average age is 17.

Birth control can help to reduce the pregnancy rate. Although the pregnancy rate has dropped, we still hold the highest babies being born to women between the ages of 15-19. It would also be a helpful way to have parents speak to their children about birth control in a more positive light. Along with lowering pregnancy rates, there are some young ladies and woman who have terrible period related issues. Birth control helps to either reduce the pain of periods by stopping them all together or having them happen once every couple months. For all woman struggling to get out of bed in the morning because of period cramps being so painful, the uses of birth control can be for more than just sex.

Valerie's blog concerning birth control and women's health, in general, is informative and useful. The discussion of birth control is a rare topic, especially in a positive way. I enjoyed reading it, along with the article, "The Economy Can't Grow Without Birth Control by Bryce Covert" The whole article was refreshing.

“Gay Vet Supporting Trans Rights”: Trump’s Transgender Ban Blocked

       In the article by Dave Phillips, "Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban on Transgender Troops in Military" the piece shows that not all political figures take the Constitution lightly. The Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a significant example of this. She is a Federal Judge from the District of Colombia, who has made a temporary block against a White House policy. One of which that has created a tremendous amount of controversy, Trump wanted to pass the policy against Transgender troops. The plan would not allow the service of Transgender people in the military. The motive for Trumps suggestion to adopt this policy was due to his “disapproval of Transgender people in general.”
       However, Judge Kollar-Kotelly made it very clear the plan would be unconstitutional in a 76 page ruling against the proposal: “There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effective on the military at all.” says Judge Kollar-Kotelly. The Judge's repeal against the policy reassured supporters and members of the LGBTQ community. There have been a few issues that arose from this verdict, but civil rights groups have made more lawsuits against the plan and the administration. Although, some lawsuits are still pending. The article gives a well-detailed cover on the people who are trying to help LGBTQ community as well as the steps they're taking to fix the government from the inside out. People like Judge Koller-Kotelly help to interpret the constitution, as well as fight for those who fight for the rights of others.

#MeToo, The Raw Power Behind the Hashtag

   The author, Margaret Renkl's opinion piece, "The Raw Power of #MeToo," is intended to be an informative piece for everyone, not just women. If you have a mother, daughter, sister, wife or girlfriend, this will include you as well. If you are a son, a brother, or father than the piece is intended to help inform everyone not just men, the difficulty of being women in this world. This article is about the secret stories woman have the misfortunate of having to conceal with them because the world is so different for them, so much so that being sexually harassed is shameful. “The numbers keep ticking up as women tell the stories of men who used their power to overwhelm or coerce them,” says Renkl as more and more women are using social media to bring to light the injustice done to them.
    The author’s credibility stems from the sole fact that she’s a woman who’s gone through the sexual harassment throughout the years from men in her life. She argues that people of power have also abused not just women, but men as well. With men also tweeting their own stories through the hashtag “IHearYou” the epidemic of sexual harassment is alarming and terrifying. However, men can have it as disturbing as women in some cases, because "men can't get raped," or "harassed," some people won't even believe or listen to their stories.
    The author’s evidence is posted all over social media, it has been for 10 years by the African-American activist Tarana Burke. However the authors suggest that the movement will fade, I don't agree with her in this viewpoint. I believe that sexual harassment against women and men will always be relevant, especially now that social media has become a way for more people to get their information, it’s also become a significant way for people to voice their own stories.

The Issue with Gun Control and Gun Rights

The opinion article written by David Brooks," Guns and the Soul of America", does a remarkable job of appealing to the reader’s Ethos. David B also does a good job of giving efficient evidence on the topic, supporting his opinion and providing a better understanding of the points he’s making by giving links to other writers on Gun control. David B. made it apparent that the lack of gun rights after a mass shooting was unfortunately related. This idea came to light by David Frum; A writer for the Atlantic. David F. points out that gun control was loosened after the horrific and devastating shooting, that happened 5 years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary. This helps the reader better understand what David B. is trying to explain in this article. He continues with more evidence between the correlation of horrifying mass shootings and the government making it more accessible for people to buy firearms. A key point that David B. backs up in his article with evidence showing there is a correlation between the mass shooting epidemic and guns rights comes from, the Studies conducted by Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra and Christopher Poliquin gentleman from the Harvard business school. David B. continues with asking the most obvious question; if there are so many mass killing’s why are gun laws so lenient? His response may be a bit bias, but other than that he has and an idea that could use some further explanation. If he were to use some sort of evidence to back this up then he would have been able to make a valid point. I believe what makes this opinion piece very helpful is that he gives links to surveys, other peoples work, and studies on gun control as well as gun rights like he did with the Pew Survey.  David B. finishes his article with the idea that there is such a high gun issue because people in the united states feel everyone should be able to care for themselves. Which is closely related to a high sense of identity for Americans. I would have liked him to go into further detail in this opinion, however, he did give a link to a political science professor, named Hahrie Han. that helped to further develop his final opinion. Overall it was an informative article, straightforward, and provided helpful evidence.

Integrity Loss: Russia and The U.S in Cahoots?

The New York Times has written an article that may be a crucial key point as to why Americans, as well as society, isn't ready for a Direct Democracy. In particular through the use of technology, an idea that we had discussed last week. In the article, “Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota Among States Targeted by Russian Hackers in 2016 Race” has proven how quickly technology from any part of the world can be so easily hackable. In the 2016 election, discussion of Russia hacking the U.S Presidental election to help Donal Trump win had surfaced. Homeland security had notified the states affected by the scandal, but the votes had yet to change back to their former decisions. Although, President Trump and Russia have both denied the allegations against them. The integrity of the united states and the democratic system is up for discussion at this point.