The last time I received a phone call about an impromptu trip planned to Asia was in 2007. My friend Bill called and said (more or less) ‘let’s go to Japan’. At the time I had no particular plans or ambitions to go, but I liked the idea and the adventure. We had done a bit of travelling together as a part of the debate team in high school, but nothing international. To make matters worse (or possibly better
Tag Archive for 'Debate'
Global warming, along with rising populations and economic growth will put additional strains on natural resources, it warns, fuelling conflict around the globe as countries compete for them.
BBC NEWS | Americas | US global dominance ’set to wane’.
Seriously, read this article and tell me it was not made to be used in debate. I want to talk more in depth about it later, but just read it…seriously.
Well, one minute I am complaining about this quarter going by too fast and the next I am thinking about this summer. That has been the craziness of this year for me. I was never exactly sure what my post-graduating plans would be, but now its time to decide more thoroughly.
This decision most immediately manifests itself it in choosing classes for next quarter. Since my propensity to attend Law School is ever increasing, I have decided to take classes that focus on writing. I do not consider myself a poor writer, but I think investing some time would be a great resource. On that note, I am taking an English course that focuses on writing about ethical issues. I thought this would be interesting and most applicable to the type of writing I do. I am also going to take a History of Philosophy course. Fall Quarter I took the first course in this series and really enjoyed. It is fascinating how influential thinkers’ ideas pop up throughout history. Of course, I am taking Chinese, which I have grown to dislike. Thankfully, this will be the last Chinese course I have to take. Chinese is not a friend of my GPA, I just keep thinking: why didn’t I take Spanish? The last course I will have will be Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources. I am pretty excited for this class because I like the teacher and the subject-matter. It will cover air pollution, fishing, and global warming. Considering the craziness of the debate topic junior year of high school, I should have some knowledge to bring to the table.
To complicate matters further, Monica and I want to move soon. Hopefully, we can pull that off without a hitch.
Two Fridays ago, I participated in a program where we went to several law firms, a non-profit, and the district court. I firmly believe that this aided my desire to attend law school. It drives me nuts though thinking about preparing for a decent LSAT. I am becoming more confident that I can do it though. I have been mulling over taking a test prep class just to be certain I do well. I feel like I can hit my peak success at standardized tests.
In the meantime, I have to continue the ridiculous amount of reading that I have for the History of Economic Thought. Also, I have a paper that I want to write on police discretion, so hopefully that will be done soon. There are also about a million things I need to do for CPP!
As I watch more of this debate, expect more commentary.
Kucinich:
The problem is, these policies of preemption license a war. Preemption, by virtue of international law, is illegal. Our president has already violated international law. The war in Iraq is illegal. Even planning for the war against Iran is illegal.
Okay then…if this is true (which I have no idea if it is) why are we participating in such international institutions?
He continues:
I want to know when this Democratic Congress is going to stand up for the Constitution and hold the president accountable with Article II, Section 4: an impeachment act. I think that our democracy is in peril.
How about we start with the War Powers Act?
Sorry, but all of the sudden I have gotten hung up on this Iran thing. From the previous post you can tell I need to do more research (and think the politicians do too), but while watching the 10/30/2007 Democratic Debate I could not help, but wonder why would we not make a Plan B?
Obama:
Now, there may come a point where those measures have been exhausted and Iran is on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon, where we have to consider other options, but we shouldn’t talk about those options now when we haven’t tried what would be a much more effective approach.
I grant you that I would not like to see our policymakers spending most of their time talking about military action, but should we not consider it? Bush has gotten lambasted for not having a contingency plan in Iraq. That is fair how can we be paying all of these advisers and filling the coffers of government departments and not have a Plan B? How could we go to war and have NO ONE advising the President think that this could happen and draw a plan up for it? It is beyond me how we pay for these people to perform like this.
By the same token it seems to me that we should be prepared to take evasive military action against Iran. This is dangerous because just preparing can be interpreted as an act of war, but this is not a peaceful utopia we live in. We have a ridiculous number of nuclear arms, so if that is not something one can interpret as a potential act of war, I do not know what is. I think just the prospect of organizing a Plan B, the thing that Bush is criticized for not doing in Iraq is essential here. It would be foolish not to even consider it until all other options are exhausted. Lets actually consider every option and proceed with the least risky first, but have the extreme in the back of our minds just in case.
At least in this case Hillary was more reasonable:
I also think when you go to the table to negotiate with an adversarial regime, you need both carrots and sticks.
Lesson of the day: If you wake up in the morning and realize you have made a mistake, have a backup plan!
Well, for those of you following the political mess that is the campaigns that feel like they have been running forever, you may have saw or certainly heard about Tuesday’s Democratic debate.
Since she has been the front runner for some time, her rivals are starting to go on the offensive.
The campaigns of both Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, running in second and third place in most surveys, hinted that their candidates would come out swinging. The two candidates didn’t disappoint: Both hammered Mrs. Clinton for her stances on Iraq and Iran, Social Security and other issues.
I am not certain I fully follow this logic though
Her fighting spirit was all the more impressive because so many of the positions she was defending were virtually indefensible.
Thank you, New York Times for that gem. At least the article saves face by acknowledging how poorly this appears in a debate
Clinton needs to ration her obfuscations. Otherwise, she risks looking as silly as she did at the end of the debate…
and:
But you would have to be a very, very committed Hillaryite to be comfortable listening to two solid hours of dodging and weaving on everything from her vote on the Iran resolution to her husband’s attempt to keep records of their White House communications secret until after 2012.
Will this even have an impact though? I tend to agree with NYT article, if you read it, that Obama and Edwards do not stand to capitalize on this much. I think if they did they would have done so by now. What is fueling Hillary forward? Why is she the front runner now? I think these are interesting questions to answer and while on face may seem simple, I think the underlying answers would be fascinating. Perhaps, the political atmosphere is just in her favor. Perhaps, her political machine is the most well oiled. Perhaps, Bill is giving her a few pointers?
n the 1990s, “Clintonesque” became a by-word for political double-speak. We even became, briefly, a nation of deconstructionists when President Bill Clinton mused on the meaning of “is.”
Such existential questions seemed to be in the past. But with another Clinton running as if she’s all but a sure thing for the White House, Clintonesque is once again becoming a politically relevant adjective. In Tuesday night’s Democratic Presidential debate, the moderators and Hillary Clinton’s fellow panelists took pains to pin her down on one question after another, without notable success. The junior Senator from New York seems increasingly to have adopted her husband’s political methods, minus the savoir-faire. The result is that it’s impossible to know what she believes about anything.
Regardless, this election will be interesting (when it finally comes). This early campaigning albeit ridiculous, probably is not going anywhere anytime soon. In the mean time, let us ask ourselves what are the Republicans doing?
Recent Comments