26.04.2017 Trump's FCC chair just declared war on Obama's net neutrality rules

Trump's FCC chair just declared war on Obama's net neutrality rules

Summary: Net neutrality rules set in place under the former chair or the FCC (A federal bureaucracy!) are set to be replaced. Ajit Pai, the current republican chair says that current regulations are hurting the marketplace, however supporters or net neutrality disagree. Just in the past year we've seen net neutrality become a very partisan issue despite voters overwhelmingly (81 percent) supporting net neutrality regardless or race, party affiliation or religion.

Course content/Opinion : This entire article is about the FCC, a federal agency which has been making laws completely independent from congress. This is slightly terrifying because of how far the FCC (and the rest of the Republican party) seems to be from what the people want. I think when 81 percent of the population wants something, It should be done. There is obviously major lobbing in the FCC from internet providers, the FCC isnt doing what the people want, just what major companies want. A regulatory commission removing regulations, seems a bit fishy...

29.3.2017 ACLU: Congress votes to gut Internet privacy protections

CONGRESS VOTES TO GUT INTERNET PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

Summary: The House of Representatives (and the Senate also voted today) to pass "S.J.Res.34" this overturns a FCC law requiring ISPs (Like Comcast, Time Warner, Version) to get customers’ permission before selling sensitive data, such as browsing history.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) released an official statement about the ruling saying; “It is extremely disappointing that Congress is sacrificing the privacy rights of Americans in the interest of protecting the profits of major internet companies including Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon. President Trump now has the opportunity to veto this resolution and show he is not just a president for CEOs but for all Americans. Trump should use his power to protect everyone’s right to privacy.”

Course content: This bill was proposed by the house inside of a joint comity (Which were learning about!) Both the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to pass this resolution. I'm also using this in my proposed bill project. 

 My Position: I don't agree with this bill, I think it is against the fundamental rights of citizens and violates privacy rights. I hope that trump will veto the bill (but he probably will not). 

16.3.2017

Under Trump, Approach to Civil Rights Law Is Likely to Change Definitively

Summary: As usual my weekly Anti-Trump liberal propaganda has reached your eyes (Yes, you Mrs. Gurely). This is an older article from mid January. Very basically this article hates on the blatantly racist, homophobic, and anti-trans Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions. We cover his beliefs and quotes, here's a quick summary:

• He was outraged when Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general, refused to defend a law banning gay marriage and told his state counterparts that they could ethically do the same regarding state bans.
• “It was shameful and disgraceful and an abandonment of the rule of law,” Mr. Sessions said in 2015. “I’m not happy about what’s happened to my Department of Justice.”
• [He was] arguing that there was no need for the federal government to become involved in prosecuting hate crimes against women or gay people that were already being prosecuted locally. 
• “I am not sure women or people with different sexual orientations face that kind of discrimination. I just don’t see it,” Mr. Sessions said, denying that he was anti-gay or anti-women.
• “These lawsuits undermine the respect for police officers and create an impression that the entire department is not doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness,” Mr. Sessions said at his confirmation hearing. He said civil rights lawsuits hurt morale

Course content:

SOS: Anti-Gay, Anti-Women, Anti-Transgender, and doesn't believe that the police need to be punished for breaking the law...

The Trump Trifecta of bigotry and blatant disregard for civil rights...

This very obviously applies to the civil rights because the Attorney General plays a very, very important role in protecting the rights of all people. Something the Trump Administrations dose not seem to care about.

My Opinion: Is pretty evident, I don't like this guy. I think the country is going to take Two massive steps back (Like it does every-time a conservative gets in office) and were going to continually marginalize minorities like conservatives always have.

-All apologies for the Liberal  propaganda piece.

#Notmypresident

22.2.2017 How Trump Would Corrupt the Pulpit

How Trump Would Corrupt the Pulpit

Summary; "President Trump just reiterated his campaign promise to “get rid of and totally destroy” the law prohibiting churches and other nonprofit tax-exempt institutions from endorsing political candidates." Trump wants to remove the Johnson amendment which prohibits tax-exempt business (Like churches, the red cross, and other charity's) from endorsing US politicians. This law is one of the most crucial parts in the separation of church and state.

Course Content: Repealing this act would also open up a huge loophole in campaign finance. Any individual could donate millions of dollars to churches who pledge to support a candidate, and making those donations tax deductible.

Opinion: I think repealing this piece of legislation would put a huge blow in the already screwed up campaign finance system. I also think this will more deeply entwine religion and US politics. Two things which should never ever mix. As always, I think Trump isn't making a good decision, and in the end will harm the country.

James Madison put it best: "Taxpayer-subsidized religion would become corrupt, lazy and unpersuasive — and worse", he said, “an offense against God, not against man.” 

-Zach St. Pierre

15.2.2017 Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser

Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser

Summary: Michael Flynn, a retired general and National Security Adviser stepped down due to "mislead" vice president pence and other white house officials about his phone calls with Russian ambassadors. Flynn is in a very power place in government and the dangers of possible corruption from the Russian government are very concerning. Little is currently know about the nature of Flynn's phone calls with Russian ambassadors, although there is much speculation of it regarding the harsh trade sanctions the Obama administration out on the country. 

Course content: Recently we've been talking about things that convince people into joining partys. I can see how a possible breach in national security might shake the already weak Trump administration. It's still to early to understand the full implications of this.

Opinion: I personally believe that the Trump administration's  strong ties to Russia are disconcerting. Russia is a hostile country, with very little freedom who literally kills people who dont agree with the government. Russia is a country who's interests are strongly opposed to that of the US and this current administration seems to be ignoring that. 

8.2.2017 "How should the media cover a White House that isn’t afraid to lie?"

How should the media cover a White House that isn’t afraid to lie?

Disclaimer: I'm super biased, very liberal sorry (Sometimes i make good points though)

Summary: Throughout history the white house has play an imperative roll in providing information to both the public and the press. Nearly every administration in history has given non-biased(ish) statistics and press conferences allowing the press to freely and confidently report on American affairs. However the Trump administration has already proven to not only withhold the true, but also flat out lie. Press secretary Sean Spicer started off this trend by stating that Trumps inauguration was the most viewed ever (It was not). Then later that week continued to state falsehoods about the amount of voter fraud in America (Claiming it was in the millions, It was not again) This raises a tricky question for journalists; How do we report on a white house we cant trust? 

Course content application: Recently in class we've be talking about public opinion and in sure that a lying white house might negatively skew public opinion.  Also we've been discussing the medias role in public opinion,  this article is directly geared at journalists to be cognizant of lies coming from the white house and to call them out.

Opinion: I think this is quite a historic time in American politics. Our leader is a talking Cheeto with a toupee who stands for bigotry, sexism, racism and, Islamophobia. We have a cabinet of the richest, whitest, top 1% in history all of whom are not afraid to lie to the press or the general public. I believe that the press will have to step up in a major way and act as a mediator/filter from the lies of the Trump administration to the people and to do fair, semi-non-partisan reporting on the issues the white house wont talk about. One of Emperor Trumps executive orders barred the EPA from releasing information to the press about the Dakota Access Pipeline, this is an opportunity for the press to pressure the white house to be more transparent and open about polices like the DAP.