Colleagues Work Comment #2

I am commenting on my colleagues post titled, "Is it End of the World as We Know It?" from the blog "America: Land of the Utterly Confused." I agree with what my colleague is saying that environmental safety and well-being is a very important thing, but personally, I do not think it should be the main priority at this point in time. Now don't get me wrong, I am not undermining the importance of taking care of our environment. Pollution is a problem, we see its effects every day and the way it affects our health and wildlife. However, I do not think President Trump is simply out to destroy the world as so many people seem to put it. I think President Trump has his priorities straight. I too do not believe in the idea of global warming, but I do think its extremely important to take care of the environment. There's just a few problems, when we have North Korea threatening to blow us to pieces, ISIS beheading countless innocent people, and a drug epidemic taking the lives of nearly 40,000 people each year, the environment can wait for a little bit. We are not going to defeat ISIS by spending all of our money to put up solar panels or being involved in the Paris Climate Agreement. With everything that is going on these days, climate change will not be the thing that leads to the end of the world as we know it.

North Korea's Latest Threat.

On Thursday, North Korea yet again released another propaganda video.  This time showing the White House in crosshairs.  Taunting videos from North Korea is no new news to us, they've been putting out controversial material and making bogus threats for years.  However, things are especially tense this time as the U.S. has been urging China to tighten down on the country.  The two and a half minute propaganda video shows a massive military parade, followed by footage of missile tests and a burning American flag with the White House in crosshairs.  The video also shows a backdrop that says "We will show you what a strong country that leads the world in nuclear and missile technology is capable of."  I think it is fair to include the fact that North Korea is believed to possess only 8 to 10 nuclear weapons while the Unites States possesses around several thousand.

Although North Korea has been making threats for years, we should not continue to sit there and allow them to continue taunting us until they act.  They continue to put out controversial videos, conduct missile tests, and incarcerate any American they can find without reasonable cause.  North Korea is run by a coward, Kim Jong-un has run his country with fear and propaganda.  Millions of the North Korean people have been starved to death in order to fund Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions all while living under whatever lies are fed to them by their government. These same propaganda techniques will not work on the rest of the world, it is time for something to be done to stop the mockery of the United States and the oppression of the North Korean people.

Colleague Work Comment #1.

I am commenting on my classmates blog post titled, "The Wall To Be, Or Not To Be, - That Is The Question."  While my classmate did present good points in expressing his opposition President Trump's border wall, I must say I respectfully disagree.  Illegal immigration is a huge problem in the United States, we have let this issue slide by for too long and now it has gotten out of control.  If we enforced our immigration laws in the first place, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today.  However, we are in this situation and there is no better option that has been proposed other than building a border wall.  Many people say that a wall will not do any good, that it can be crossed too easily and we really will not be fixing anything, but there is actually quite more to this wall than meets the eye.  President Trump had stated that the wall will be drone enforced, along with a great number of border patrol agents with the authority to take the appropriate action if need be.  Will the border wall completely fix all illegal immigration? No.  However, due to the mere thought of the wall and consequences for illegal immigration, illegal immigration has gone down nearly 70% since Trump took the white house.  That alone should say something.  People are realizing that the United States now has a leader that will do what he says rather that tiptoe around options.  During the race for the presidency, then candidate Trump stated,  "If I draw a line in the sand, I will enforce that line in the sand, believe me!" 

Russia and U.S. Elections.

Ever since President Donald Trump made it to the white house, there has been a lot of talk and controversy surrounding Russia and its so-called interference with the 2016 presidential election.  Many Americans believe that Russia meddled with our electronic voting machines and "hacked" our election.  In a technologically advancing world, such a claim seems like a possibility, but there has been no real evidence that this is actually true.  With the over 130 million Americans who voted in the 2016 presidential election, it is impossible to know for sure whether Russia had anything to do with the ultimate outcome or not.

Although there is no evidence of Russian interference with the presidential election, such a possibility is scary.  Cyber security is a big issue in the United States and any possible hack should be thoroughly looked into.  However, considering all of the other claims and attacks that have been coming from the left-wing media since the election of President Trump, this seems like another attempt to give the president a hard time.  After all, wasn't President Obama who poured over $350,000 into the campaign of Benjamin Netanyahu's opponent in Israel?  If that isn't foreign influence on an election, I don't know what is.  Why is it that there is a double standard when it comes to this?  Until there is some substantial evidence backing up such a claim of Russia being the reason for President Trump's victory, it seems that it is safe to say that Americans were ready for real change. 

WSJ Editorial "WikiLeak's New Damage".

According to a Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, "WikiLeak's New Damage", yet another massive spill of information occurred Tuesday, containing a huge amount of the CIA's hacking information.  8,761 documents to be exact.  Many of these documents contain key information about new technology put in place to keep Americans safe.  This crucial information now lies within arm's length of America's enemies.  The article makes a very good point by stating how the importance of this situation is often overlooked due to many of America's enemies, such as ISIS and al Qaeda, are considered to be primitive.  However, this doesn't mean that they are not capable.

According to the article, much of the leaked information deals with the methods used by the CIA to gain access to personal devices such as iPhones, Androids, etc.  Along with our smartphones and personal devices, documents containing information of how to hack into our automobiles was released as well.  This is a scary thought considering so many of us walk around with our own smartphones in our pockets and drive to work everyday.

With these documents in the wrong hands, the personal information and potentially the lives of many Americans could be a great risk.  Along with the risk of the information of the American people being stolen, the cost to the government that it will reap is another big issue.  Much information after being leaked is considered obsolete due to the fact it is now known to American enemies.  The government will have to invest even more money to develop new technologies.  If the reality of cyber attacks are inevitable, how do we keep our information private and out of the hands of the enemy?

WSJ Editorial "Trump's Deportation Surge".

Wall Street Journal editorial board member, Mary Kissel, appears in an opinion video followed by a thought-provoking article dealing with President Trump's immigration enforcement.  The target audience of this informative article seems to be leaning to the left as President Trump's immigration enforcement is called "illegal", along with giving a consistent amount of criticism to Secretary John Kelly's proposal on illegal immigration.  The article condemns the new administration's goal to amp up our border security and remove criminal illegal immigrants. Opposition to these ideas however, is understood. Hiring more border security will prove to be extremely costly and the deportation of certain illegal immigrants with minor criminal offenses, possibly dividing families, seems morally wrong.

Illegal immigration is not a simple matter, nor is there an easy way to go about fixing it.  Regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum, a simple solution to restoring border security does not exist.  Throughout the article, many good points and statistics are presented which only makes the situation harder.  How will a mass deportation affect the our economy?  Do we track down every last illegal immigrant and send them away, hurting families or friendships?  Or do we continue to let just anyone enter into our country as they please without any consequence?  Ronald Regan once stated, "A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation." One thing is certain, we need to gain control of our borders.

The author (along with many people), see President Trump's response to immigration as extreme.  However, it is important to have a plan, set expectations high, and work our way down from there.  The article praises President Trump for sparing some 750,000 "dreamers" (those who were brought to the United States illegally as children) from deportation and condemns him for wanting to deport criminals.  The majority of Americans agree that illegal immigration is one of the most significant problems in the country, yet many frown upon the idea of mass deportation.  Is President Trump going to round up and deport every last law abiding illegal immigrant?  No, but action needs to be taken.

I encourage you to check out the article for yourself.

Trump's Deportation Surge

Phoenix VA Hospital Sees No Improvement 3 Years After Scandal Hits

Years after thirty-five United States veterans passed away while waiting to receive treatment, the VA hospital in Phoenix, Arizona still proves to be a failure.  For those who are unaware of the original scandal concerning the Phoenix VA hospital, in 2014 an unusual amount of funds were being poured into the hospital (over $100,000,000 a year), however the hospital's already poor care only seemed to get worse.  

Today, nearly three years after this scandal hit, there has been little to no improvement regarding the way our veterans are being treated.  Rima Nelson, the current head of the Phoenix VA, appeared to be dodging questions in an interview Fox News (interview can be found in the link below).  I encourage you to check out the full article as it is informative and deals with an important issue that is often overlooked.

Phoenix hospital at center of VA scandal ranked among nation's worst.