Nepal

              Nepal is a country known primarily for one thing, Mount Everest. Sadly, now it will be known for another. Nepal was just struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake yesterday. A BBC article sums up the basic facts. The massive earthquake struck on the border of the Australian and Eurasian plates in the Kathmandu valley between the Nepalese capitol of Kathmandu and city of Pokhara.  So far over 1,000 deaths have been confirmed across four countries (Nepal, China, Bangladesh, and India) with thousands more suspected once the magnitude of this disaster is realized. This is only magnified by the already poor infrastructure of the country making damage to structures even more drastic resulting in more deaths.

              Now that the basics are down let’s see how this stacks up against other recent earthquakes. The most recent one would be Haiti in 2010. This was only a 7.0 magnitude earthquake but the loss of life was much greater at 220,000 due to the denser population of the region. The most recent on the same plate boundary was in the Kashmir province of Pakistan in 2005 which was similar in power at 7.6 but once again fell upon a more populous region. The most devastating this century occurred in 2004. An astronomical 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred in in the Indian Ocean triggering a massive Tsunami resulting in 230,000 deaths in Indonesia alone. This certainly stacks up there with the strongest of earthquakes and must have immediate attention to minimize all damage.

Banning Old Glory???

Old Glory, the Stars and Bars, and the Stars and Stripes, these are just a few of the names used when describing the American Flag. It has flown with pride across the globe at places such as Normandy, Iwo Jima and the Argonne Forrest, but now it is facing some of the greatest push it has ever found against it and it is within its own country! The University of California Irvine student government has recently banned the flying of the flag on campus in an absolutely appalling decision. This is an action that is a disgrace to our country and should never be allowed, especially at a public university.       

The USA Today discusses how the California Legislature is trying to pass a State Constitutional amendment preventing this but it is only getting mixed levels Democratic support in a predominantly blue state. This is certainly a valiant effort by the legislature but it does not seem it will likely pass. Thankfully, the governing body at the University has done what they could to overturn the ban so it has no real governance. The fear is that in the future a ban like this might hold up, which would be completely unacceptable. One potential future plan to combat an action such as this would be for the Federal or State government to cut funding to the university. If the university is unwilling to at least display the emblem of the organization that keeps them running they do not truly deserve that organizations support. I don’t know how likely this would be to occur on a state level but I certainly could see this happen at a federal level when congress delegates educational funding to the states. They could put a stipulation on the funding stating that when the state delegates funds a university unwilling to display the flag should not receive any funds. This would most likely be the most effective action because it would hold the university accountable for its decisions, but not necessarily preventing the action from occurring as that could be seen as a restriction of freedom.

            Ultimately, something must be done to prevent an action like this in the future. Whether it be banning something like this through legislation, or cutting funding our country cannot allow our tradition and armed forces represented by the flag to be disgraced on our own universities which we keep running with our taxes and funding. The idea that an action like this would ever be taken is extremely disappointing and should not be allowed at public institutions. 

http://college.usatoday.com/2015/03/10/california-lawmakers-want-law-to-prevent-students-from-banning-the-flag/  

The Cuban Embargo

The Cold War is all but over in today’s world. The only major relic still remaining of the Cold War is the Cuban Embargo.  The discussion whether or not to lift the embargo is raging in Washington DC as sanctions have just been loosened but still exist. I do not agree with what the Cuban government stands for but the embargo is simply the US holding an old grudge that does not have its place in today’s global economy.

              A New York Times article published in October 2014 (link at bottom) discusses some of the basic ideas of the embargo. It first tells how all relations (economic and diplomatic) were cut off is 1961 soon after Fidel Castro (pictured) came to power. This was in response to Cuba’s communist government allying with the USSR which made it a threat to the US. Cuba has had all other sanctions lifted by all other countries and many others have begun to aid Cuba’s reforming economy. The article ends by discussing how restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba could also help the US take a step to help fix broken relationships with countries such as Venezuela which adamantly opposes the embargo giving Cuba much money.

              If we are to go more in depth into the issue some key issues must be realized. First of all while Fidel’s brother Raul is in power the government is run very differently. The government is no longer classified as communist but as socialist. If this policy of banning trade with countries with a government like this were applied to all countries the US would have to ban trade with countries like China who has a more oppressive government than Cuba. This is extremely hypocritical and a policy that must be changed.  The other item that needs to be brought to the forefront is that the embargo is only used as an excuse and hurts the people more that the government. Cuba uses the embargo as an excuse to get extra aid from countries such as Brazil who do not monitor where it goes as thoroughly as the US would.  This results in the aid not helping the people as it would if it was US aid. By lifting the embargo the US will be able to go in and help the working class in Cuba. This could also give the average person more power which could in turn speed up the change in the Cuban government the US government has wanted for over 50 years.

              The Cuban embargo is simply a relic of the cold war. By lifting the embargo the US will gain more influence in the region allowing it to speed up the slow change occurring in Cuba. The lifting of the Cuban embargo is an essential step for the US to try to return relations with Cuba to normal.

 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/opinion/sunday/end-the-us-embargo-on-cuba.html?_r=0