PIRATES

There have been two major stories in the news lately about pirates or piracy. The arctic30 group that got arrested after boarding an oil ship in protest of drilling, and the abduction of two American oil ship sailors by Nigerian pirates off the coast of Nigeria. In my opinion, the second issue is the more serious matter, because the Americans were abducted by real pirates who are very dangerous. Oil ships like the one these two men were abducted from have become an increasingly popular target for pirates from west Africa. When reading the suggested article, I came across a point that said West African governments don't allow the large oil ships are not allowed to have armed security guards. This seems very irresponsible to me, because it is obvious that there is a problem with pirates in these waters. Restricting the ships from protecting themselves seems to encourage these pirates to attack ships because they know the people on the ship would not be able to defend themselves. The ships traveling in these waters need to be able to protect themselves, because it could take a lot of time for help to arrive.

The Shutdown and the Debt Ceiling

The recent government shutdown in my opinion is nothing but the result of childish behavior from both parties. This shut down did not need to occur. But procrastination and unwillingness of the house and the senate to compromise or at least work together to build a better America caused this to happen. Instead of working to sort out the health care reform and the debt ceiling issues, it seems to me as if both parties stood there with their arms crossed and faces pouted like a child who didn't get the toy they wanted as the clock ran out and the debt ceiling was reached, resulting in the shutdown, which further delays the process of figuring everything out. Regardless of my own political views, both parties are at fault, and it is a shame that it happened.

On a related note is the debt ceiling itself. The idea of  this "ceiling" and mainly how the ceiling is dealt with has perplexed since I first heard about it. I thought, why have this debt ceiling if every time the debt is about to reach the ceiling, it is simply raised? It seems pointless to have this limit if the government will not obey the limit and make proper cuts as well as reforms to actually decrease the debt instead of increase it by less. I understand it is not easy to do that, but the supposedly smartest and most powerful people in the nation that were elected for this very job should figure it out!

"Biker Gang" and Alexian Lien

The recent incident involving the "Hollywod Stuntz" motorcycle crew and Alexian Lien has made major news over the past few weeks. Many articles have jumped to blame the "biker gang" and to defend Lien. However, it is totally necessary that both parties are blamed. This "gang" (which, according to the article is not your typical leather vest biker gang) was clearly disrupting traffic, speeding, possibly inciting rage, and of course, beating the New York man, all of which are against the law. However, Lien should have expected what happened to him considering the way he acted towards the motorcycle street riders. By picking a fight with this Stuntz crew, who are obviously people who don't mind breaking the law, he was certainly playing with fire. When he lost his temper and sped over one of the riders, he certainly could not expect that the bikers would just disappear trouble free. Both parties are responsible for the damages done, so both should be held accountable legally. This is a good reminder for us about how we should drive and respond to other people on the road. Causing problems can only lead to more problems, and reacting poorly to people causing problems will only make problems worse.

Obsession with Cats

The past few years has shown a huge explosion of obsession with cats on the internet. This really started in 2007 with the emergence of the website "icanhazcheezburger.com". This website features LOLCATS and cat memes, and quickly became one of the most visited meme websites online. But why cats?! It seems foolish for pictures of cats with captions to become such a hit. But upon closer consideration, it makes perfect sense. Cats are furry little creatures that generally have quite an attitude and they are a little too curious for their own good. They make funny faces, and matched with the right caption, it is just the perfect time passing type of comedy that people are addicted to now a days. This is the reason why a picture or video of a cat can get millions of views in just a few short days. But this whole cat craze may not be such a new phenomenon.

Think of the Austin Powers movies. Dr. Evil had a cat named Mr. Bigglesworth that he held in his lap and stroked as he conspired his evil plans to take over the world. This cat was by no means cute of furry, but the cat and Dr. Evil's relationship with it added another level of comedy to these scenes just because the cat was present. Similarly, as we read for this week's readings, dictator Vladimir Lenin too had a cat that he held and stroked in his lap. (Possibly while he was conspiring his plans to take over the world?). It is possible that Dr. Evil's cat was inspired by Lenin, but both examples truly show how some people regard cats. It is no surprise to me anymore when I open youtube and see a featured video with millions of views, and it is just a cat getting into trouble. History, and the emergence of the internet, has created a pathway for cats to rise into comedy fame.