Police: UConn football player stabbed to death

The UConn cornerback Jasper Howard was stabbed in the abdomen last Saturday Ocotber 17th. A fire alarm was pulled at about 12:26 PM during a student sponsored dance. Apparently a fight broke out between two groups of people around 12:33 and Howard and an unidentified body were both stabbed. Howard was air lifted to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. He was pronounced dead early Sunday morning. The football coach, Esdall, had to identify the body because all of his family lives in Florida. Howard was a father to be, a brother to all on his football team and a beloved son to his mom.

This is one of those stories that I hate even hearing about. I really don't understand what can drive someone to hate another so much that they would kill them. From the sounds of it Jasper didn't have a whole lot of enemies. A teammate of his Desi Cullen was actually in tears when describing his, and the whole football teams, relationship with Howard. His mom was also in tears while she tried to choke out what a good kid her son was. He was also a father to be. That is the saddest part I think. The fact that this little baby is going to be born into the world without a father is heart breaking. I really hope that the murderer is found and put away for his awful crime.




http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/18/connecticut.football.stabbing/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

Commentary: When Nobel Prize rewarded failure

Julian E. Zelizer, the author of this piece, discusses the comparison of Obama to Woodrow Wilson and when each of the presidents recieved the Nobel Peace Prize and what that indicated to the world. Wilson, who was the 28th president, recieved the Nobel Prize toward the end of his second term of presidency. Wilson recieved the award for his "campaign to gain ratification for the League of Nations" in 1919. Wilson, by this point was at the end of his ropes. The second term of his presidency was said the have been full of failures. The president had failed to convince the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, which was the agreement signed at the end of WWI, and he drug the U.S. into a bloody war when he in fact promised to keep them out of war during his second term campaign. In fact, Wilson wasn't even present to accept the award because he had just suffered from a stroke. Wilson didn't only take the Nobel Prize as an honor but said that he would use it to humble him into seeing all the work that still needed to be done. Obama, on the other hand, has recieved the Nobel Peace Prize at the beginning of his presidency. So instead of using it to look back on all his failures, he can use is as a motive to succeed and acheive the goals which he is pursuing.

I really like this article. Many people criticized Obama's win of the Nobel Prize, but this article didn't judge whether or not the President deserved the award, it just looked at it analytically. It showed how the Nobel Prize could be use for motivation instead of just being another trophy on the shelf of President Obama. That although he may or may not have deserved the award, he can definately show others how he will use the award to better the citizens of America. I not only hope that Obama will uphold the U.S. and turn this country around but I also hope that American's will realize that Obama won this award for a reason. That other people all around the world think that he is an amazing peace promoter and human being and I hope that all citizens, of any political parties, will work together to help him accomplish our countries goals.

For further reading on this topic Marit Aaseng's blog is an extension of my opinion.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/12/zelizer.nobel.wilson.failure/index.html

Spending What We Can Afford

In 2007 Congress passed a "pay as you go budgeting" systerm. It requires that any tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending be offset with reduced spending elswhere. People that support the "paygo" system say that it is necessary to show that Congress undedrstands that being in debt is not acceptable and needs to be contained. They argue that many citizens are concerned about the rising national debt and paygo rightly responds to their worries. They also advocate that this system will teach congress how to budget their money and only spend the money they have, as most businesses' and families already know how to do. Supporters also think that if Congress took the time to collect unpaid taxes, and eliminate wasteful spending, they could most likely raise most of the money needed to pay for new initiatives without increasing their debt. Finally, they argue that paygo can be stopped if necessary, such as in an extreme situation like a recession or crisis. On the other hand, opponents to the paygo system criticize that paygo is the wrong way to approach a budget deficit. They think that paygo will result in higher taxes to pay for the new programs instead of cutting back on the money. They say that budget deficits should be eliminated by economic growht rather than budget cuts and tax increases. Some of them also say that paygo would restrict Congress from responding to national emergencies. Finally, those who don't support the paygo plan argue that program cuts or tax increases will anger voters.

I agree with the paygo plan. It is logical and reasonable. I think it is rediculous that our country can spend money it doesn't have and increase our national debt. If we focused on making money instead of spending it for even a single year i think it would make a huge difference. Personally, I don't really understand how it is possible for us to spend all of this money that we don't have. Where is it coming from? If we had a paygo system, it would help stop the uncontrolled spending that Congress seems to do. Of course the downfall is if Congress decides to raise our taxes for funding for their programs instead of cutting back on spending. Honestly I'm not really sure this would happen considering that that's what would anger voters and the congressman most likely wouldn't be voted in for a next term. Representative Steny Hoyer, who is the majority leader for the House of Representatives, also supports the paygo system. He says, "agreeing to pay for what we buy is a decision to stop digging our hole any deeper, and that is a necessary start."

Randee O'Brien's blog discusses issue number 3: social insecurity and Steven Carlson discusses the cost of war in his blog.