Trevorgasdaska's Blog

Afghanistan

trevorgasdaska — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:52:03 +0000

Obama has a lot on his plate right now. Along with running the country and health care a new obstacle has been raised by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who requested Obama to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by 40,000. Besides just figuring out what he thinks would be best for the country, Obama faces pressure from some of his supporters from early on in his campaign. Obama has been taking his time deliberating over what to do, and i dont blame him. Seeing as Obama has no military background, disagreeing with a general would be a hard thing to do. After a bipartisan meeting last week, it became clear that the republicans are all for the idea of the general and we should accept the troop increase, raising the total number of troops in Afghanistan to 108,000. The republicans think that the commanders on the field have the best perspective of whats going on there so it is them we should listen to. While on the other hand, the more conservative democrats are leery about the increase of troops. The democrats see the war as unwinnable and adding more troops would cause the US to get into another Vietnam like situation. While the republicans are still supporting the war, domestic support is now down to 40 percent, dropping 4 percent from July. It still seems that the president is still far away from reaching a decision, which he should be, changing 40,000 peoples lives is a big deal and shouldn’t be takin lightly.

I liked this article. It was very informative and gave every sides opinion. It compared this situation to others, helping me to understand it easier. What i would have liked there to be in the article was a paragraph explaining what Obama was thinking. I know that he probably wouldn’t release that information to the press but i would have even like a speculation of where this news group thought he stands. It only has the background information and groups that are pressuring Obama. I would have liked this article to be more focused on Obama because in the end he is the one who has to make the decision, not the democrats, republicans, and people of the general public who think it’s so important for everyone in the country to know exactly where they stand on every issue. While its nice to have some contrast i think the media has overused this as just another way to get a story. Because in the end little Cathy from North Dakota or Jimbo the senators secretary aren’t the ones making the decision. Obama is.

Health Care Reform Current Event

trevorgasdaska — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:40:27 +0000

In this article, the CBS news group goes over 10 myths about the health care reform. One myth is that the Health Care Bill supports or requires Euthanasia. Another myth is that Americans will lose their current private insurance. On the other hand, the president garuntees that you will be able to keep your current policy. The fourth myth states that the more conservative Democrats are only concerned with cutting costs. The fifth myth say that the bill requires taxpayer’s money to pay for abortions. The next myth says that the health care reform will add to our countries deficit. ANother myth says that there will be cuts on medicare. The eighth one is that Americans don’t want a government run health care system. Number nine says that there will be a rationing of care. And the final myth says that the changes the reform will bring about will happen quickly. This is a major change and will take time to take full effect.

I am glad CBS published this report. With any major change there will always be uncertainty, especially with this bill because of the rumors that surround Obama. There are still lots of rumors and uncertainties around this bill but there will always be seeing as there will always be questions to support the sceptics just as there will always be facts to support the supporters. I think that the only way to truly see the effects of this bill would be to put it in effect and to wait and see what would happen. I do like taking risks, but risking an entire country is not the kind of risk i want to take. personaly, I would like a lot more of the questions cleared up before I bacame a supporter of this bill. Also with the rumors around Obama questioning his incentives, I am naturally a little cautious with the idea of government run health care. I would like nothing more than to support my president, but i have heard too many rumors without any answers or explanations to trust him fully. I await the day that all of my scepticism will be proven wrong and I can become a supporter of Obama and his ideas but until that day i will remain a sceptic.

Swaziland: Runing Out of Room, Running Out of Time

trevorgasdaska — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:20:35 +0000

A growing population, a strict following of the land distribution customs anda country slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey is just asking for trouble. The country of Swaziland is having problems with food security seeing as how the population has doubled since the independence from Britain in 1968. To further add to the growing population and lack of land, it is custom that each Swazi son is given a piece of land on the family farm, to build a home, grow maize and raise cattle. Since the land is being constantly subdivided it gets harder and harder to grow enough food to support a growing population. Samuel Dlamini sums it up by saying, “If you divide a meal into smaller and smaller pieces to feed more people there comes a time when everyone goes hungry.”

After reading this article I am concerned for the people of Swaziland. i think that at the start of the land division custom, when the population of Swaziland was much lower, that it helped to give the sons of the family a place to start their careers as farmers. But now that the population has grown I believe that this custom is hurting a lot more than it is helping. Unfortunately for the people of Swaziland it has been a custom for a very long time so they even the thought of changing it will most likely cause chaos. There is also now room for Swaziland to grow seeing as it is mostly surrounded by South Africa, a much more powerful nation who would most likely not give up any land easily.

Swaziland: Three woman were kicked out of parliment for a dress code violation

trevorgasdaska — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:44:04 +0000

Today in lobamba, three female civil servants were kicked out of a Parliament meeting because of failure to follow the dress code. “Sorry senators but we need to briefly stop the meeting because some of our officials are not properly dressed for being in Parliament, something is missing and it would be wrong of me to continue,” said the chairman Chief Velamuva Maseko. These woman were Malta Dlamini the Under Secretary, Nelisiwe Nkhambule Senior Accountant of the ministry and Duduzile Dlamini the Director of National Population. The woman immediately removed themselves and came back properly dressed. The item that Chief Velamuva Maseko said was missing was a head wrap as woman are not allowed to have there head uncovered.

I think this article is very interesting and gives us insight into the people of Swaziland’s culture. To have your head covered as a women must be extremely important if the chairman would stop a Parliament meeting just so three people could go and get properly dressed. This is something some people in America would consider unfair or sexist but I believe that to the Swazi’s not coming with your head wrap is like not having a shirt on or walking around barefoot. I think it is interesting how in different parts of the world peoples expectations and opinion of what is socially acceptable are so different. For comparison, i would bet that different cultures look down on us for things that we find completely normal.

Important Leaders

trevorgasdaska — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:23:42 +0000

Monarch:King MSWATI III

head of government: Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso DLAMINI

Speaker: The Honourable Prince Guduza Dlamini

Foreign Affairs & Trade: Senator Mathendele Dlamini

Justice & Constitutional Affairs: Prince David

Swaziland’s Government

trevorgasdaska — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:08:51 +0000

Swaziland’s Government is a monarchy. A monarchy is a system of government where power is held by one individual or monarch. This power is usually for life and is passed down by heredity. The current monarch of Swaziland is King MSWATI III. the capital of Swaziland is Mbabane although Mswati opperates out of the royal and legislative capitol, Lobamba . In 2005 the king signed the constitution which was put into effect the very next year. This allowed the topic of political parties to be discussed seeing as before the constitution they were banned. The bicameral Parliament, or their legislative branch, is made up of the senate and a house of assembly. They consist of forty members for the senate and 65 members for the house of assembly, the vast majority of both are selected by the monarch. The high court and supreme court’s judges are both elected by the monarch.

Swaziland’s Economy

trevorgasdaska — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:38:09 +0000

The Swaziland economy is a small economy where agriculture makes up roughly seventy percent of the population. Though manufacturing has diversified since the nineteen eighties sugar and wood pulp remain vital capital earners. In 2007, the sugar industry was forced to become more effiecient because of the seventeen percent sugar price decline in the EU. Mining, a once more prominent resource, has declined in importance in the past few years with only coal and quarry stone mines still remaining operational. Swaziland is primarily surrounded by South Africa, except for a small portion sharing a border with Mozambique. Because of this, Swaziland greatly relies on South Africa from where ninety percent of their imports are received and sends sixty percent of its exports right back. The current currency of Swaziland is directly attached to the South African Rand. The government is struggling to improve the attractiveness of Swaziland for foreign investments. With a nearly forty percent unemployment rate, Swaziland needs to drastically improve the number of small and medium business to increase foreign investors. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and floods are still problems facing Swaziland’s economy with no real solutions to any of the above being conceptualized any time soon. More than twenty-five percent of the population needed emergency sustenance aid in 2006-07 because of a severe drought. Also, nearly forty percent of the population has been infected by HIV.

Hello world!

trevorgasdaska — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:51:01 +0000

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