Commentary of a classmate’s blog #2

     As my second classmate critique I chose my classmate Alyssa Villalobos, “Why Standardized Testing in Schools Should be Abolished” Alyssa states that with all of the standardized testing that our students aren’t actually learning anything and instead are just memorizing information  to take one test then doing the same thing a year later. I completely agree with her, I feel now that there isn’t any actually learning going on and it’s more so a regurgitation of the information they’ve memorized. I also know firsthand that standardized testing doesn’t really prove anything or prove if someone is intelligent or not, I like to think of it as a Dr. looking at a mechanic as though some of the work may be dumb, and vice versa a mechanic looking at a Dr. and just saying well I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nothing can be proven from regurgitating information that isn’t actually learned, I agree with Alyssa that the school systems are more of a rinse and repeat method of “learning” we cannot say this student is smarter than that one by the amount of information they can memorize in subjects they really don’t care about. The only real critique I have about Alyssa’s blog is that it should be broken up into two paragraphs just to make it easier on the eyes to read. But overall I agree completely with what she’s saying and standardized testing proves absolutely nothing about a person’s intelligence. 

Original Editorial 2 (Trump Protestors)

          I chose to talk about the incident with Donald Trump’s rally and protesters acting like animals, for lack of a better word. The logical part of me says we cannot act like this as a society, as a nation of young people who oppose this man both vocally and quietly, our only option is to protest this idiot of a man. But then there’s the part of me that is so fed up with these acts of blatant racism and outlandish comments, that feels yes we should do whatever it is we can to get him out of this running. Everything in life should be thought through logistically but in this case I’m not so sure we can put any sense of reasoning into this man or get him to change his views, so why is it that we should be so rational when this man has done nothing that would lead me to believe he’s sane.

            Logically speaking I think we shouldn’t have to stoop to Trump’s level in order to gain attention and be heard. We as a society should have more common sense than to break through barricades or shove police officers. With everything we’ve seen in the media lately I still do not think it is completely right to hate all cops or all form of author because personally that’s not how I was raised and I’m sure my classmates or many other young minds. We cannot act as vigilantes, taking authority and justice into our own hands, there is a system in place for a reason and if we do not like the system than we should do more to change it without resorting to violence. We as clear minded young people should rise above this man’s petty hate and continue to pursue justice in our own way without being violent but productive.

            Now with logic in mind is the reason I cannot sit here and say being passive is the complete answer. How can we sit out here and protest when all the media wants is for protesters to act out so they can get attention but why is it that quiet protesters do not get the same acknowledgement? I am not saying that acting like savages will get us any further in our endeavors of getting Trump out of the race and may very well be fuel to the fire but in the same sense can you honestly say that if protesters stay quiet that this man is just going to give up? He is an evil, tyrannical, occult-leading, hatemonger that is gaining attention from all those who could not openly say the things he has without being hanged. How can we say that the protesters cannot act out when this entire time at Trump’s rallies his supporters have been openly abusing people without any fear of being reprimanded, in this case I say we have to fight fire with fire. I do know that two wrongs do not make a right but what have we seen Mr Trump do that is any type of right? 

Classmate Critique

  I chose to critique my classmate Quintin Buxton's, "Don't be so hard on your big brother, he tries" in this editorial he asks a simple question that many of us have asked before, whether it be in class or elsewhere. Why is it that who we vote for doesn't necessarily win even if they have the majority? This very perplexing question is not even necessarily a theory, we have seen it happen on more than one occasion just as Mr. Buxton explains, the only thing I would have liked to see here is maybe going into some detail about these past debacles. 

      Overall I like the short and sweet style in which the editorial is written. While he is not over complicating things by adding big words or over explaining the system of the electoral college, I can't help but feel that there should be at least a small mention about the electoral college with that being the main issue here. This is most definitely a "Hot" topic that any one of us could be asking at any point; the truth is that "we" as the American people should know more about this process with the Electoral College and all of its intricacies. I agree with Mr. Buxton's argument that we most definitely deserve more answers regarding this issue and answers that actually give us valuable information to further expand our understanding of this complex system. 

Original Opinion Editorial

     The issue I will be arguing for is that Hillary Clinton should be the next president and my opinions why. I will explain my reasons for why she should be elected, please keep in mind that this is only my personal opinion. I don’t know too much about politics and feel this might be what a fellow Hillary supporter may think or argue. I believe she will be a great president because she has been there before as a first lady. In my opinion she has seen firsthand what it’s like to be a successful president (in her husband) and what it takes to get to get the job done.  As Secretary of State she has worked very closely with President Obama and I’m sure will keep up the work he’s done and even make improvements. People want improvements, for more to be done and I believe she can make it happen, I believe she has made the connections in government needed to achieve her goals in the long run. Personally I don’t think Bernie Sanders will make a good president, not too be nit picky but he is a bit old to be running. I’m not saying that he’s incredibly old but it makes me feel a bit more comfortable with Hillary being younger. Just as our professor says, “This is not a Presidential race for this term but for the next one as well.” I also feel that Bernie Sanders is making a lot of promises that he will not be able to follow up with, he’s promising free or lower college tuition, taxing the rich and giving back to the poor, I personally don’t think Bernie has that kind of pull in government yet to make these things happen. Most of all I know Hillary will do a better job than Trump. 

Article Critique 2

    I chose to critique the article "Guns in America: You know the case for background checks is weak if..." by John R. Lott written on Fox News. I chose this article because I felt a need to change up my view a bit from the presidential race to something a little closer to home. I personally have always wondered what the arguments about gun control laws were one way or the other. This article by Lott is mainly to capitalize the idea as to why extensive background checks are not the issue and instead look more into better mental health evaluations. 

     Lott starts his claim by referencing the mass shootings that have all been the focal points as to why change is needed to the gun control laws we already have. Lott claims that after these events President Obama speaks about the tragedy that's happened while stating that these are specific problems we will focus on. The only problem with this according to Lott is that there is evidence already supporting that the attacks will not decline from an expanded or more extensive background check. The only problem I have with Lott's argument here is that I would like to see these studies to get a more in depth feel that the proper work has been done regarding this issue. But Lott does claim that some of the studies done with gun control laws, expanded background checks and even mental health evaluations is that the information is cherry-picked to only show a small amount. I like this argument that a lot of the information we do see is hand picked to be most favorable to either side of the argument, I would like a look at the entirety of this research but that is just me and my opinion. 

     I would like to have seen a bit more information from Lott in this article but it is a good beginning to a concept that should be more looked in to. All in all I like Lott's argument that expanded background checks are most likely not the solution and that we should be doing a better job with mental health evaluations instead. 

Article Critique

The article I chose to critique is A Vote forTrump is a Vote for bigotry by Dean Obeidallah, written on CNN Political Op-Eds. The audience for this piece could be anyone really, conservative, liberal, democrat or republican. This article is for anyone wanting to gain more knowledge about Donald Trump’s offensive actions and comments. The argument here is that there are so many people supporting Trump but in the same sense it’s as Dean says in the article if you support Trump you “support his sexist, bigoted and racist views.”

                       One of Dean’s first claims is a comparison of Trump and Hitler by stating that people who don’t like Trumps view of women but think he will be good for government is “It's akin to saying, "I supported Hitler for his tax plan." I found this statement to be very true and likeable but I did not like how he immediately states that he is not comparing the two figures when he so obviously just did. He does go on through to point out several different incidents of Trumps truly intolerable acts. One in particular stuck out to me in which Trump mocked a reporter Charles Krauthammer, “Trump despicably ridiculed Krauthammer, a man paralyzed from the waist down, as "a guy that can't buy a pair of pants." Another incident similar to this one and Dean describes as the most alarming “came in November at a Trump rally in Birmingham, Alabama, when a Black Lives Matter protester interrupted the candidate. The GOP front-runner called on the crowd to get the man out of there. His supporters then beat up the man, reportedly calling the black protester "the N-word" and a "monkey." Shockingly the next day Trump defended those actions, saying, "Maybe he should have been roughed up." I think this is one of the best examples to help wake people up the injustices this man has committed.

                       Ultimately I like how he outlined his argument and great use of facts, which have all been public. I would like to have seen maybe a little more about what Trumps backers (both political and general public) have to say about his outlandish comments and actions. He does ask questions in the article on which of the subjects his backers would mostly agree with but doesn’t go forth with this and actually interview them. I hope this article can make the American public see how much of an intolerance this man actually is. 

                I picked this video because it seems to be a good representation of the political talks these days. You have Mr. Donald Trump, a man who knows absolutely nothing about politics, and yet is the absolute front runner in this year’s election and presidential debates. In my opinion it’s appalling how our political system can go from immensely complicated to the next great vh1 reality show. In the video Donald Trump speaks about rebuilding our military system, building higher border walls, and repealing Obamacare. Money for the opposition is coming from outside systems, as if everyone who should run for candidacy should be millionaires. Can speak freely about how disgusting the political ads against him are but will throw anyone and everyone under the bus without realizing his own harsh words and wrongdoings throughout his entire campaign. He also says he will throw negative ads because if his opposition throws them, then he has “no other choice” but to throw them right back. Trump wants to balance the U.S. budget, quickly but without hurting anybody? He believes in stopping all Muslims, because Americans, “have hatred beyond belief for them.” Says he supports the 2^nd amendment and that, “if there were guns in Paris then the bombings and carnage wouldn’t have happened.” Trump also finishes his interview by claiming the best way to stop ISIS and any opposition from the middle east is to, “Take the oil no matter what.” from Islamic countries even if it causes more pollution for the rest of the world.