Jack Ciolli of the comic book Atlas and Nick Ciolli of the Loyola Phoenix go overly in depth on the new Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer!
Friday, December 6, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Stigmatizing Mental Illness
Pro-gun supporters disproportionately blame mental illness for tragedies
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Organization Behind the Million Muslim March
What exactly is the American Muslim Political Action Committee?
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Representation without Representation
It seems to
begin earlier and earlier every year. In
June of even-numbered years, a hard, heavy, and steady artillery fire of
political campaign ads begin to batter the American people. The barrage continues until the second
Tuesday of November, when citizens drag themselves to their polling places and
cast votes for their Congressional representatives and senators. Once these Congress members win election they
travel to Washington, D.C. to serve the interests of their constituents.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
If I Were a Betting Man
Sports,
professional in particular, are likely the most popular form of entertainment
in the world today. Sure, everybody
likes movies, music, and television but people are incredibly passionate about
sports; they live and die by results of their favorite team’s games. Professional sports today are more popular
than they have ever been. That being
said, two questions dominate the wide world for sports: should athletes really make as much money as
they do, and are these sports safe. But
another question lingers in the background: should we be able to gamble on
these sports?
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
An Argument Which Does Not Exist
This
week featured two happenings in the drive to legalize same-sex marriage in the
United States. First, the Supreme Court
finally heard cases concerning the constitutionality marriage restrictions and
second, Facebook was hit by a wave of profile picture changes to a red equals
sign. One of those matters a great deal,
one hardly matters at all. I’ll let you
decide which is which. My distaste for
internet activism aside, same-sex marriage is the topic of the hour and I would
be amiss if I did not add my two cents.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Roadblocks to Effective Government
Citizens
of the United States often complain that their Congressional representatives
and senators focus on ensuring continual reelection over effectively governing
the nation. Desire to maintain political
power discourages members of Congress from tackling politically sensitive and
often times vitally important issues, resulting in the crippling gridlock we
have experienced over the past decade. While
it seems like an easy fix to this problem is to create term limits for
representatives and senators, effecting change in this area is not as easy as
it sounds.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Inception of World War One
At the Paris
Peace Conference in 1919 after the end of formal fighting in World War One,
Britain and France, over the objection of the United States, forced Germany to
accept a war guilt clause. This clause
put the complete responsibility for dragging Europe into the war in 1914 on
Germany, forcing the state to accept draconian punishments. These included complete disarmament,
significant land concessions, and substantial war reparations. While the German delegation had little choice
but to sign it, the reality is that Germany did not prove to be the state most
at fault for the descent into war.
Friday, March 1, 2013
World War One and Total War
While World
War One may not have been the first global war (the Seven Years War featured
fighting in Europe, North America, Central Asia, and numerous naval skirmishes
all across the globe), it was certainly the first total war. To be considered a total war, a war must have
profound impact on the daily lives of nearly every citizen in the combatant
states. Their social, political,
economic, and cultural lives become directed by the state in such a manner that
it benefits the military effort.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Implications of the Second Industrial Revolution
Europe in
the late nineteenth century experienced a remarkable boom of industrial,
technological, and educational advancement as well as significant electoral
progress. These transformations
primarily came about as a result of the Second Industrial Revolution and the
important social changes which occurred in its wake. The three decades proceeding the turn of the
twentieth century, however, planted the seeds for a wave of cultural malaise,
social tensions, and movement away from traditional liberal ideals. These downsides primarily occurred due to the
sudden and abrupt manner of the changes.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Please God, Don't Let It Be Rubio
While
most Americans experience election fatigue weeks before the election even
occurs, the media never ceases to speculate about the next presidential
election. Who will run? Will the demographic alignments change? Who will win?
It is fun to ask these questions, but difficult to answer them due to
the sheer temporal distance between now and 2016. This has not stopped some media outlets and
commentators from pegging Florida senator Marco Rubio as the front runner for
the Republican nomination. If the Republican
Party wants to lose in 2016, they should run Rubio. If they want to win, they should run Jon
Huntsman.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
State of the Union Response
In
2010, “Despite our hardships, our Union is strong.” In 2011, “…and the state of our Union is
strong…” In 2012, “…and the state of our
Union will always be strong…” and in 2013, “…we can say with renewed confidence
that the state of our Union is stronger…”
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The Death of Native Belief
The
societies of the Americas and Oceania in the pre-European contact era had
numerous different religions, nearly a unique belief system to each individual
tribe. These belief systems had existed
for hundreds, if not thousands, of years—generations of believers linking the
present to the distant past. The culture
shock of even the initial contact must have been extreme; a huge and abrupt
paradigm shift which immediately challenged age old traditions.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Small Government is Dead
It is not
uncommon for conservatives to be portrayed in the media—typically popular
media, but occasionally the news media as well—as stupid, ignorant, or racist;
often a combination of all three. (For
the record, I distinguish a difference between “stupid” and “ignorant”. “Stupid” implies an inability to understand
something while “ignorant” implies the ability to understand something, but the
willful refusal to understand.) This
characterization is, of course, not true.
While it is nearly undeniable that some conservatives are stupid,
ignorant, or racist, there are likely just as many liberals who are stupid,
ignorant, or racist. However, there are
inherent flaws in the typical ideology which many conservatives subscribe to;
one of which is their insistence on small government.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Not Even Drops in the Bucket
In the quest
to eliminate the budget deficit and reduce the national debt both political
parties have proposed numerous solutions.
It is typical for Republicans to suggest spending cuts and for Democrats
to suggest the increase of certain tax rates.
While both parties seem to be firmly ingrained in these positions, the
reality of the situation is that a combination of selected spending cuts and
tax increases will be required to find a meaningful solution. Additionally, there appears to be a courage
gap between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party; while Democrats are
fully prepared to propose tax increases on the wealthy, Republicans tend to
expound on the need for spending cuts but avoid specifics. The reason for this is that the only way for
spending cuts alone to solve the economic crisis is to deliver deep cuts to
Social Security, Medicare, and the military; the first two tantamount to
political suicide and the last against the party’s other positions.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Programming Poll
I'm thinking about slimming down my post length to generate more content. The plan would be three posts a week of about five hundred words, with at least two posts a month of my typical length (about one thousand words). Just want to do a quick poll.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
The Tea Party, Occupy, and a Gun Rally
The First
Amendment guarantees Americans five freedoms, chief among them freedom of
speech and religion. The fourth freedom
mentioned in the amendment is the “freedom to peaceably assemble,” essentially
ensuring that Americans are free to form protest rallies, provided they do not spill
out into violence. This right belongs to
everybody in the nation, on both sides of the political spectrum, and is a
powerful tool when conducted correctly. In
recent years, there are two notable examples of its use, one from of the two
prominent ideologies, as well as an interest group which should call for a
national rally.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Ways to Reduce the Deficit and Debt
The United
States budget deficit and national debt problems remain a highly popular
political issue, and while some economists, namely Paul Krugman (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/),
assert that it is not as life-and-death as news outlets and politicians will
have citizens to believe, it still garners much discussion. With the 2013 budget deficit estimated at
about nine-hundred billion dollars and the national debt hovering at about
sixteen trillion dollars, there are numerous ways to address the problems. Here are simply a few.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chuck Hagel, Defense Secretary Redundancy, and Obama’s Leadership
With
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta retiring this year, his post is yet another
Cabinet position which President Obama must refill for his second term. Obama’s choice, former Nebraska senator Chuck
Hagel, a Republican, has begun his confirmation hearing this week and his
statements illustrate a disappointing trend in the President Obama’s leadership
methods and style.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
The Iranian War
It
is becoming increasingly hard to go three days without reading an article or
seeing a news segment concerning Israel, Iran, and the possibility of a new
Middle Eastern war for the United States.
The cause of this conflict is Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program and it
government’s repeated threats and innuendos that Israel has no right to
existence; something the Israeli government is not very agreeable with. It is believed that Israel will attack Iran
in one form or another, with or without American aid. While many decry the possibility of another
American war in the region—fittingly in the nation between the United States’
other two conflict zones—there is reason to believe that such a military
involvement may turn out better than expected.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
National Interest or Self-Determination?
The
history of the United States’ involvement in the political affairs of foreign
nations is not an exceptionally long one.
For the first one hundred thirty years of American history, the nation
largely kept to itself on the international stage; a policy known as
isolationism. The reasons for this
self-induced isolation are multiple. On
one hand, the nation followed George Washington’s advice to avoid foreign
entanglements, while on another the country had a literal ocean between it and
the hotbed of political activity at the time—Europe. Once the United States truly stepped onto the
global stage in the aftermath of World War One, the nation’s outlook on foreign
involvement began to evolve, culminating in the present-day struggle between national
interest and self-determination.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Guns, the N.R.A. and Domestic Mutually Assured Destruction
As shooting
deaths continue to compile since the Newtown tragedy, the debate over gun
control rages on, nearly encompassing every aspect of American society. While both sides have their points, the
argument of the National Rifle Association’s chief executive officer, Wayne
LaPierre, that “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy
with a gun” sounds awfully familiar to a policy employed by the United States
during the Cold War—with success—but is generally looked unfavorably upon.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Instances of Space-Time Compression
The concept
of space-time compression has been of vital importance both to the trend of
globalization and the emergence of what can be considered as global
history. This compression refers to
increase in the spread of information across large areas in a speedy manner. The spread of information—be it news events
or intellectual thought—is a prominent and key factor in the integration of the
modern world, an integration integral to global history. The speed at which this information travels
across borders, both political and geographic, has played a large role in this
integration; this speed has not been constant throughout history, however.
Monday, January 14, 2013
The Buck Stops Somewhere Else
Personal
responsibility is dead. Long live
personal responsibility!
I cannot speak for other nations,
but America suffers from a debilitating lack of ability to take responsibility
for its own failures and faults. Every
time something bad happens, all involved parties shift the blame to the other
parties, yet when something goes right all parties claim the success for
themselves.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Worst Acts in Presidential History
The United States of America has had
forty-four presidents over its two hundred twenty-four year history. Some have been great—George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt come to mind—while others have been
very forgettable, such as Millard Fillmore, William Harrison, and Gerald
Ford. Despite having some presidential
duds, America has been blessed the good fortune of never having a truly bad
president. This does not mean, however,
that American presidents have never made bad decisions. This is a listing of some of the worst policy
decisions in the history of the American executive branch, in order from least egregious
to most.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Assault Weapons Ban and the Second Amendment
Interpreting
the Constitution has long been a hallmark of American society and in the
aftermath of the numerous gun-related tragedies over the past two years, one particular
aspect of the document has found itself under intense scrutiny. The Second Amendment, part of the Bill of
Rights ratified in 1791, protects the right of private citizens to possess
arms, although its language causes confusion and strife in today’s society. While it is tempting to attack the amendment,
one must be careful when scrutinizing any constitutional amendment, taking into
account the language, the original impetus and modern interpretations via court
cases.
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