Upcoming Election

With the election coming up soon I will finally get my first chance to participate in it as I will be able place a vote. With the competition between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney I have a hard decision to make as I believe both candidates would make a good fit to run the decisions being made in the country and I am still undecided on who to vote for. On Obama's side there are several things that I agree with him on on several different issues which makes it seem as if I am leaning towards him and his democratic views. But on the other side I like what Governor Romney has said with his policies in which he is trying to make different changes to improve this economy. In President Obama's four years as the leader of the United States he has not made many improvements to the economy even though he was put in a rough spot at the start of his presidency. The economy is the most important part of these candidates in the presidential race as I think it has the biggest impact on my personal life when it comes to jobs and the different opportunities which can get the economy going again and will increase the spending within individuals in the country when these opportunities are given. As I agree with more of the policies included in Obama's campaign this may not be enough as Governor Romney has many methods to improve the economy such as tax cuts so spending for individuals goes up and businesses have a better chance at economic growth. When the election time comes around I will decide which is more overpowering and as I continue to look at the candidates I will make my decision on what I think will be the best candidate for myself and the rest of the country.

Stocks Near Biggest 2 Day Slide Since June

Over the past few days the stock market has dropped at a vast rate as the DOW industrial has been slipping due to some terrible earning reports by several companies. This has effected me personally because I have become very involved in the stock market over the past year as I own several stocks and have invested a decent amount of my money in the market. On friday one of my stocks Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) reported their earnings and had a huge earings miss as the stock went down over 15%. Due to the increasing competition from other food stocks such as Taco Bell and Yum Brands, Chipotle seems to not be able to keep up with their high priced stock that is around 250 after the recent drop, as the competition within the restaurant industry is increasing. Though this stock has slipped from its earnings as well as the market overall in the past few days, I have done pretty well with my stocks as the stock market has increased over the past year and stocks such as Amazon and Polaris Industries that I own have done very well for me. I love investing in the stock market because everyday you do not know what will happen with your money and it is very interesting to see how different events around the world effect the market as a whole. I am so glad that my father introduced the market to me and gave me some prespective on it, as it has become a daily habit that I enjoy following and I get to see how the economy is progressing. I believe this is an important way to invest money as I would rather have a portion of it invested in the market then to have it all sitting in the bank, because even though it is risky it is another way to make money without having to put manual labor into it.

Pakistan Girl nearly killed by Taliban

A 14 year old girl named Malala Yousufzai was recently targeted and shot by the Taliban for supporting education for girls in the community. In the Pakistan culture the women are trained to be housewives and in the community the women are not seen to a freedom to their own education. Not only are they not allowed to have the freedom to their own education, but they almost have no freedoms. Many of the women in these Middle Eastern countries are forces to wear Burqa's in which all there skin is enclosed and not exposed to the rest of the population. The women in this culture are only expected to be housewives and take care of their familes, and if they try to expose out of this social norm and fight for their own rights such as this girl Malala they will end up with such consequences even if they are not trying to spark any violence. This just proves that America is such a safer country in which all citizens are given the ability to have several freedoms and are not faced with the adversity of being forced into certain situations. I feel very fortunate to be living in the United States because I do not have to face violence such as these citizens are facing everyday in the Middle Eastern countries like Pakistan where friends and family could be killed or injured on any given day for crossing such barriers that are part of the social mean. As this young girl was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban for fighting for a right to education, it is unfortunate that all the women in this society cannot explore their interests and strive in a succesful career and learn more things about themselves as an individual. This is the great thing about America where everyone has the oppurtunity to explore several interests and strive in success in different places.

A-Rod Struggling in Playoffs

Over the past decade Alex Rodriguez has been known as one of the best third baseman's in the game of baseball, but he has consistently had troubled hitting well when it counts, during the postseason. He was given the biggest contract of all time in 2007 when he agreed to a $275 million contract over 10 years as the Yankees went all in on this superstar. He has been great over the regular season, but as shown once again he has been struggling in the playoffs as he so far has been 1 for 9 in his at bats against the Orioles. In pressure situations he has had the most trouble as he has been a career hitter of .175 with runners in scoring position in the postseason and has ended several games striking out for the last out allowing the opponent to beat them out. In my opinion it seems like A-Rod just cannot handle the big pressure situations that are included in these postseason at-bats. When players are given these huge contracts like the one A-Rod got, it seems like the players never live up to the expectations because they are suppose to continue their vast success from the previous seasons as they continue to grow in age. I have had experiences with baseball as I played competitively for over 7 years and it is a game that takes over your mind mentally. Players must have a positive mental attitude everyday if they want to succeed, and I believe A-Rod's struggles in the postseason are due to a mental collapse in these pressure situations. I stopped playing baseball because the mental aspect was too much for me and I stopped enjoying the competitiveness as a whole. I give props to all the players that have been able to succeed in this mentally-filled sport by pushing through the negative thoughts in their minds and continuing to prosper in the sport to make a living for it as a career.

Jim Crow of Fraternity Row

After reading this article about some of the actions made by the students in different fraternities with racist remarks towards the black community I thought this was completely inappropriate and that there needs to be an end to it. When the Civil Rights Movement ended it was seen as if racism around the world had been eliminated, but these discriminatory acts are still active today and are nearly as powerful as the racist remarks made years ago. This behavior on these campuses should definitely be outlawed and banned on these campuses because when the African-American students are being abused through the students making fun of them by dressing up as a stereotypical black student when throwing "ghetto parties", they are being emotionally damaged and this can alter the ways they go about their studies at the schools. I believe the fraternities such as Beta Theta Pi should be erased from all universities because the discriminatory acts made have taken it way too far and a simple apology is not enough and a statement should be made by the university so that this stops immediately. As Auburn's Vice President of student affairs stated,  "there is no acceptable explanation for the appearance of students in Ku Klux Klan robes or blackface" makes the statement that the students have taken it way too far and that changes must be made in the university.

Indiana University Speech Codes

When reviewing the speech codes of Indiana University I found that they do a good job of protecting the students from being discriminated against as the policy of "fighting words" is enforced in their efforts to protect everyone from harassment. They have an area called Dunn Meadow where all students may excercise their freedoms of speech which allows everyone a chance to be able to express themselves. These speech codes do not change my opinions on this school because I believe that these policies by the administration are greate and they have created a great way to protect all students from discriminatory actions by others. I believe that these restrictions on their speech codes are legal because as they allow fighting words it may infringe on the First Amendment of freedom of speech, but it is one of the legal ways allowed to alter the freedom of speech and they are not fully taking away the freedom of expression or speech, they are just limiting it to an appropriate rate.

If a party such as the ones described in the article previously that occurred at the University of Auburn where present at an Indiana fraternity I believe disciplinary actions would be made immediatley. I think that they would suspend the students taking action in these harrasments and possibly eliminate the fraternity from being active on the campus. I would definitely agree with these actions because if the students are taking the discriminatory actions too far then changes should be made and a statement should be visible so that these events never occur again.

When exploring FIRE's website more I found that I agree with many of their perspectives when they express their meanings of the freedom of speech and the limitations allowed in the different universities.  The restrictions of the codes protect the students because when things such as fighting words are enforced in the speech codes it is protecting the students from being discriminated against and follows the policies of the speech code.

The Holidays

On a day like today all the non-Jewish kids in the school thank people like me for having today off of school. They get the whole day to do whatever they want, while on the other side I am forced to spend these days with my family. Not saying that this is a bad thing, but some of the things I have to do I feel as if I am being tortured. I had to go to services today for a couple of hours and it is probably some of the most boring hours in my life. I completely take pride in the fact that I have been blessed with the religion of Judaism, but I also am not very into the religion as a whole as I tend to keep my mind wondering during these services not wanting to be engaged in the services. I sometimes think about how I would rather be at school than have to go to these services because it is at least somewhat interesting to me. I love to see my family and have a great dinner with them during these holidays, but if  I could find a way to avoid the boring services then I would enjoy the holidays so much better. Overall I am still proud of my religion and would not replace it for any other religion because I am fortunate to be part of the small percentage of Jews in the world.

Amazon's New Kindle Let's Users Avoid Ads

In the new age of technology new products seem to be appearing all over the world causing the competition to rise every day. Amazon one of Apples main competitors has been very successful with their work on the new Kindle Fire trying to compete with Apple's popular iPad. Besides the fact that these competitors are making millions on the products they sell, they also are making a large portion of their income from the advertisements on the different applications within these tablets. With some complaints of all the advertisements appearing on the new Kindle, Amazon decided to make an adjustment to the product hoping to satisfy its customers. They are offering people with the option to pay an extra $15 to eliminate all advertisements from appearing on their tablet. In my opinion I would definitely not pay $15 to avoid these advertisements because even though they may be annoying to look at when using different applications, it is not enough for me to pay money to eliminate the advertisements. As I would not pay the extra money to eliminate these advertisements to also goes along with the decision I would make if I were to ever purchase a tablet. I do not believe the Apple iPad is not all of what it is hyped up to be, even though it is great to watch movies and play games, $600 is way too much to pay for a product like that. The Kindle is priced around $200 and I believe that is the better buy even though it may not endure some of the features of its competitors tablets. These tablets will play a huge role in both of these companies success and changes like the ones Amazon is making like giving customers the option to eliminate advertisements will help in maintaining this success in their products.