Rest, Relax and Have Fun!

I’ve been looking forward to the three-day weekend coming up for a long time. I get a “free” day off of work, football season starts and summer ends – which hopefully means and end to the debilitating heat. We always get together as a family and have one last summer cookout. I’ll admit, I’ve never given any real thought to why we have Labor Day until this week.

Labor Day is a federal holiday that is celebrated on the first Monday in September. It was first celebrated locally in New York City in 1882. In 1884, President Grover Cleveland supported making it a national holiday and Congress unanimously signed it into law. By the end of the 20th century, all fifty states had also made it a state holiday. According to the Department of Labor, the holiday is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of U.S. workers”. It is a tribute to the “contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country”.

So, in honor of the holiday, my question to you this week will be an easy one. “Did you know anything about the origins of Labor Day? How do you plan to celebrate your three-day weekend?” Answers are due no later than Tuesday, September 6th, 2011. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Do We Really Support Our Troops

This week, I have decided to post something I posted just a little over year ago on the blog.  I know we have a few students in class who have served in the military, and I'm interested in hearing your point of view. Last year, I was watching an old episode of Boston Legal. My favorite character Alan Shore, played by James Spader, mentioned during a closing argument that in 2009, over 6,000 veterans committed suicide. That seemed like a pretty shocking statistic to me, so I decided to investigate further and what I found was appalling.

In December 2007, a Veteran Affairs (VA) internal memo written by the VA Mental Health Director said that there were 12,000 veterans attempting suicide every year. In addition, there were roughly 18 suicides per day, well over 6,000 per year, and these numbers don’t include servicemen and women on active duty. It seems the writers of Boston Legal got it right this time. The suicide rates are highest among male veterans of our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means for the most part, we are talking about young men in their twenties. Young men who should have their whole lives ahead of them, but for some reason feel suicide is their only option.

The Chief Clinical Psychologist for the Army Reserve and National Guard cites multiple and extended deployments as the cause. Many veterans return home suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries and/or depression. In many cases the VA has delayed or denied disability and medical claims from veterans because they are unable to prove that these conditions are “service-related”. When I read that, I literally felt sick.

Now I admit I’m not a big fan of our current wars. In fact, I’m not a big fan of war in general. That being said, I respect and honor those individuals who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our safety. I can’t believe that we are asking them to sacrifice so much, only to return to so little. So my question to you this week is, “What should be done to ensure veterans receive proper follow-up care when they return home? What can you personally do to support an Iraq/Afghanistan veteran?” Answers are due no later than Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.

Tragedy At The State Fair

Normally when I think of the Indiana State Fair I think of games, good music and tons of fried food.  Okay, let’s be honest – mostly I think about the food! This year however, the Indiana State Fair will be remembered for something far more somber.  By now, you have probably all heard of the tragedy that struck at the fair Saturday night when the stage collapsed on a crowd of concert-goers, killing five people and injuring close to fifty others.

The winds on Saturday night have been estimated at 60-70 mph.  Officials at the Symphony on the Prairie concert that same night made the decision to cancel the concert and evacuate people because of the oncoming threat of severe weather.  At the state fair, the band Sugarland delayed coming onto the stage until the threat had passed.  It was a decision that probably saved their lives. Now many are left wondering why fans at the state fair weren’t evacuated as the storm moved in.

Others have raised questions about the safety of the stage structure.  State fair officials haven’t said if the stage and rigging were inspected before Saturday’s show.  The Indiana Department of Homeland Security said no one from their department inspected the stage, nor did any state fire marshals conduct any inspections.  City officials said they legally can’t conduct inspections on state property.  It will be months before the investigation is complete and people start getting answers. 

So my question to you this week is “Do you think people should’ve been evacuated Saturday night?  Could something have been done to prevent this tragedy?  Should someone be held responsible, or was it just a freak accident?”  Answers are due no later than, Tuesday, August 23rd, 2001.  To those of you who were at the fair Saturday night, or who know someone affected by this tragedy – my heart and prayers go out to you.

Abu Grahib Revisted

Over the weekend, I heard that Charles Graner, the convicted ringleader of the Abu Grahib prisoner abuse scandal was released from prison. This week, we are going to discuss the mutually exploitative relationship between the media and the government, so I thought this post would fit right in.

You may remember back in 2006, when Charles Graner and six other members of the 372^nd Military Police Company were charged with abusing detainees of the Abu Grahib prison in Iraq.  Photos were released publicly that showed the detainees naked, leashed, and blindfolded in a variety of uncomfortable positions.  You can see the picture here, but viewer discretion is advised: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prisoner_abuse

Charles Graner was convicted of stacking naked prisoners into a pyramid, knocking one prisoner unconscious and ordering prisoners to masturbate while being filmed.  His defense was that he was ordered by military intelligence to “soften up” the prisoners for interrogation.  He served 6 ½ years of a 10 year sentence, and will remain on supervised probation until the end of 2014.

Many around the world saw these photos as evidence that the United States was using “torture” as a way to get information and intelligence.  Others thought these harsh interrogations techniques were worth it, if the information gained would save lives.  So my question to you this week is, “Do you consider these interrogation techniques torture, or do you feel they are appropriate if needed to keep American safe?”  Answers are due no later than Tuesday, August 16^th, 2011.

Returned For Non-Sufficient Funds

On Tuesday, the United States barely prevented defaulting on its $14.3 trillion debt, by a last minute bill passed just hours before the Treasury’s authority to borrow funds ran out.  I found all the news reports slightly confusing, and I had a hard time getting my mind around what exactly was happening.  All I knew was that it sounded bad….very bad.

To put it all in layman’s terms, the federal government must borrow about .40 for every $1.00 it spends.  If the Treasury would have lost its authority to borrow money, the United States wouldn’t have been able to pay all of its bills.  That means social security, disability, veteran’s benefits and federal paychecks could have been suspended, interest rates could’ve risen making it more expensive to obtain a mortgage or student financial aid, and the stock prices could’ve been pushed down, causing Americans to lose more money in their retirement plans.

In a last minute compromise, Congress raised the debt ceiling by up to $2.4 trillion, which would be enough to get through the next election cycle.  Simultaneously, they created a committee to develop specific debt reduction measures – slashing $900 billion from federal agency budgets over the next ten years.  President Obama has said that while both defense and non-defense program budgets will be cut, social security, Medicare and programs for low-income individuals will be spared.  You can see more of what President Obama had to say about the plan here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

The committee will have to make some hard choices about which programs to cut funding from, which leads me to my question for this week, “If you were forced to cut funding from a federal program – what would you cut?  How would you justify your cuts to the American people?”  If you don’t know – do some research!  A quick search will show you what the federal government spends money on now. Answers are due no later than Tuesday, August 9^th, 2011.