Trump Offers Temporary Protections for ‘Dreamers’ in Exchange for Wall Funding

Trump recently offered a deal to Democrats, claiming he’ll temporarily protect around 70,000 unregistered immigrants in exchange for 5.7 billion dollars in which he’d invest into his border wall. The deal was almost instantly rejected, as they denounced it as “not a compromise but more hostage taking”. They also felt this was nothin more than more false promises made by Donald Trump.

I applaud the Democrats for rejecting this offer, as it truly does seem like another false promise. Also, it dosent seem like a very fair deal to pay 5.7 billion for only 3 years of protection for these specific immigrants. To me, it seems that Trump is running out of methods to fund this wall of his, and I doubt that the idea will ever become a reality, as he has now been president for 2 years and hasn’t added any barriers yet. 

This article intensifies the war of Trump versus left-wing media, as nothing he does seems to please them, and rightfully so. In this situation, I side with the Democrats, and hopefully the gouvernement shutdown can soon come to an end.

Article- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/us/politics/trump-proposal-daca-wall.html?module=inline

Native American mocked by students in Maga hats.

According to The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, on January 18th a group of Kentucky Catholic School students at an anti-abortion rally ended up in conflict with Nathan Phillips, a Native American protester just outside of the Lincoln Memorial.

Although its unclear to how exactly this started, as both the left and right sides of news sources are claiming the other side is misinterpreting the story, it seems as though Mr. Phillips approached the group of students, while banging on a drum and reciting a prayer. There is currently video evidence of the students shouting “Build that wall”, while the other side shouts “Go back to Europe, this isn’t your land”. The Kentucky school has issued an apology and vowed to investigate the situation, however the situation seems to remain highly debated from both sides of the political spectrum.

In my opinion, the situation seems to be blown way out of proportion. I do agree that some aspects of the altercation were not necessary, such as the slurs thrown out by each side, and the nodding of the students heads to the beat of Mr. Phillips drum, seemingly mocking him. If you visit the CNN website, they’ve already interviewed Nathan Phillips and publicly taken his side. If you were to visit a more right wing sire like the Toronto Star, they side with the students, claiming that they deserve an apology from Mr. Phillips. I dont necessarily have a side in this situation, as both parties seem to be slightly in the wrong. However this pushes the narrative further of racial supremacy in America, as CNN claims the teen’s simple smirk is an act of white supremacy. In general, its just a really weird situation, and hopefully it can be resolved soon.

Article- https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/opinion/2019/01/21/the-teens-maligned-for-allegedly-mocking-an-indigenous-elder-deserve-an-apology.html

White House Asked the Pentagon for Plans to Strike Iran

White House Asked the Pentagon for Plans to Strike Iran

Source: TheGuardian.com

Credibility: Source is relativity stable and credible.  The facts seem to hold up very well.

Overview: The White House has asked the Pentagon to find out a solution or different options for military strikes against Iran last September when rockets exploded near U.S. Diplomatic Facilities by militants.

Causes/ Consequences:  The consequences of these types of actions are very little to positive.  The most you would be doing is using military grade weapons or explosives on potential civilians in Iran.  What are the chances you would hit the militants.  It could start a rebellion attack.  The U.S. is being too excessive at this point, especially since the militants never harmed anyone with the rockets. Even though the rockets are harmful, no actual harm was done.

Personal Take: My personal take is that the U.S. shouldn't cause any more problems that they have already caused in other countries, especially since the militants didn't damage or harm anyone in the U.S. diplomatic facilities. Let's say they were injured though, I think a counter attack would be appropriate.

Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/white-house-asked-pentagon-plans-strike-iran

At Pentagon, Trump Announces Plans to Expand Missile Defenses - The New York Times

On January 17, President Donald Trump made an update about the outdated missile defense system currently in the US. He says his new strategy will lower the threats posed by hostile states, including Iran. He wants to have the US protected from missiles at all times.

This may cause people to ask questions such as, how will this be done if the government is shut down? President Trump wants to protect the country but he is leaving it unprotected by shutting down the government. This could also alarm peaceful or hostile countries and perhaps create more even conflict between already hostile countries. It is not going to be an easy or quick job and other countries could take advantage of it, leaving the US vulnerable. People are already angry about the wall and this will be added to the list, it seems as though he is trying to make big moves but is not getting anywhere.

I don't think this should be a top priority right now as the government is still shut down, and it has previously cost a lot of money to get upgrade their defense that had a 50 percent success rate of shooting down warheads. He's asking for more money for more stuff that is not a dire need at this moment in time.

“Horrific scene” at California country western bar after gunman kills 12 plus himself. 

A gunman opened fire at a bar in California on November 7th. 12 people died and the the gunman also killed himself after the shooting. Police believe that the gunman acted alone and had now been identified as an ex-marine  The victims ages varied from 18 to 48. I got this article from CBCNEWS.ca, a Canadian corporation that serves as a national public broadcaster for radio and television. 

This story continues to raise questions on gun control in the United States. It definitely makes those who are pro-gun seem uncertain on what to do moving forward. The mother of one of the victims says she doesn’t want prayers or our thoughts; she wants those in congress to pass gun control so no other parents have a child who dosent come home. 

I’m not totally sure how to feel about this situation. I do believe that the United States needs stricter gun laws, but this could interfere with their second amendment. They would have to find a way to combat this issue while leaving the amendment untouched, as I feel many Americans would not be willing to go against it. 

Article- https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4896719

January 10th, 2019

Canadian Sentenced to Death in China - LA Times

 
           A Canadian was sentenced to death by a provincial court in China after he already was sentenced to life in prison for the committed felony. He was discovered to be trafficking 489 pounds of methamphetamine from China to Australia. Originally, he was fined $22,000 with life in prison, however, a retrial was ordered because apparently, the sentencing wasn't strong enough.

         I feel as though if you are in a different country with another nationality and you decide to commit a crime, it should fall upon the country to determine the penalties.

        Consequences of this could be that some people may be angry how China decided to sentence a Canadian to death. This could have a negative impact and lead to controversy and arguments between citizens and countries. 

November 8th, 2018

  California Bar Shooting - CNN.com


                 A shooting erupted at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. Witnesses say that during a college night, the now dead gunman opened fire while the bar was packed. This resulted in 12 killed victims and at least 12 injuries. A Country Sheriff's deputy was one of the deceased.

               This story truly has awful consequences because 12 innocent lives were taken away and among 12 innocent people were injured because of an incident that could have been avoided. The impact these type of stories and tragedies have on a population. Fatalities which are caused by something like this is truly heartbreaking. The US should push whoever is in charge to change something before it happens again to more families. Gun laws are a huge problem in the states and has the highest rate of gun violence and crime in the world. If something were to be adjusted and the loop whole in the american gun control policies were to vanish, many lives would be saved and things like this could be preventable.

            I don't have any personal experiences, but I do believe that some countries, the states especially, should re-evaluate their standards and priorities of their country. If Donald Trump really cared about looking out for his people, the students from a school shooting who were protesting for stricter gun laws should of made him change them.

        
                   

China executes thousands of people every year. But the exact number is a state secret.

The article talks about research done showing that there are rough estimates on how many people get executed in China yearly, and the numbers aern't looking good. In fact the numbers are so bad that they're carrying the number one spot in this category by a longshot now. As of now I think China has a lot of work to do considering their values as a nation clearly don't follow ethical guidelines with other established countries. In Canada we don't perform over 1000 executions, we don't even perform any (legally that is, considering there could be plentiful of underground action going on) When talking long term things I think China is far from being a ethically correct country and I believe they should work and strive to that goal.

Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/14/china-executes-thousands-people-every-year-exact-number-is-state-secret/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.635f099a7004

Police in Canada can now demand breath samples in bars, at home

The article talks about how there could be a new law (it’s under development) where police officers can make you have a breathalyzer test in bars, restaurants lying and even in your own home. And if a person chooses to refuse the test they could be arrested on the spot, face criminal charges, face fines and even driving suspensions. If the law goes through and takes affect drinking could be a very hard thing to keep going through because the risks are very high, if you slip up you could be done for. Company policys, schools and even certain areas require you to have a clear criminal record.

Although this could help prevent more drunk driving collisions I think a lot more people will have problems with containing themselves and I feel like the police could highly take advantage of these kinds of moments. There is also a quote from the article that really suprised me: “If you start to drink after you get home, the police show up at your door, they can arrest you, detain you, take you back to the (police station) and you can be convicted because your blood alcohol concentration was over 80 milligrams (per 100 millilitres of blood) in the two hours after you drove.”

The quote itself shows how powerful this law could truly be!

Article: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/4832762/impaired-driving-canada-breath-samples/amp/

China sentences Canadian to death

The article talks about a Canadian drug smuggler who has now been sentenced to death in Beijing. He wasn’t given the death penalty after refusing a plea deal. China is also trying to discuss for the release of a top Chinese technology executive that’s behind held captive. The Canadian has been detained in China for almost four years now but China thinks they’re being “too lenient” so they started pushing the court days forward. It wasn’t just this one Canadian though during these times China has detained two more Canadians for suspicious relations to the current detained Canadian.

Personally I think that China shouldn’t be allowed to give the death penalty to anyone from a different country. I think that this is morally wrong and they’re most likely doing this because they just want their Chinese technology executive back.

Canada should involve themselves whether if the Canadian was doing right or wrong he is still apart of our nation and is a Canadian. If Canada ends up getting him back I believe we shouldn’t punish him even further especially with everything he has been through so far.

Article: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/china-sentences-canadian-to-death-raises-diplomatic-tension-1.4252539

95% of NFL players surveyed say Colin Kaepernick deserves to be on an NFL team

                                                             January 10th/19
81 out of 85 unnamed defensive players favored the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback for another stint in the Nation Football League. Of the 4 players that didn't say he shouldn,  2 of them said no, with the other 2 giving no comment on the topic.
        The only reasonable excuse for Kaep not being in the league, if for him kneeling during the United States National anthem back during the preseason of 2016. He kneeled in protest of police brutality against African Americans. As you can see, his peers believe he has enough talent to be on an NFL roster.

       Since Nation Football League owners seem too petty to let Kaepernick play, I wonder if they would allow Kaepernick to remain in the teams locker room during the anthem, or if Kaep would even agree to do that given he's kneeling in protest.