“The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners… The United States has, for instance, 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation, according to data maintained by the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College London.” – NY Times As you’ve already seen a bit through Scared Straight and popular culture sources, American prisons are not very pleasant places with violence and sexual abuse far too common. Our corrections system is not very successful either, with recidivism rates near 60% in many states. The question then for debate is: Do American prisons need to be reformed? Should we make shorter, easier sentences? Should prisons encourage education and rehabilitation? Or are we already not focusing enough on crime and punishment, and encouraging further crime with weak enforcement?

The continued fear and unfortunate reality of school shootings in the United States continues to bring the issue of gun control up again, and again.  Should guns (all kinds) be limited to the police and military? Should citizens not be allowed to use guns for any reason?   What restrictions should there be (if any)?

 Remember to respond to another comment (of at least 2 lines). Think about what specifically you like or disagree with. Don’t just write, “I agree with gossipgirl.” Write, “When gossipgirl wrote, ‘i like pink,’ i almost got sick. Pink is the most unappealing color there is; it should be abolished.”

Today the world is able to support a population of nearly 7 billion people.  Fifty years ago it was only 3 billion.  Fifty years before that, it was only 1.75 billion.  What has made this possible?  Many factors, but amongst the largest is modern industrial food practices.

No longer is most food in the US and world produced on small family owned farms using traditional techniques.  Now modern machines and technologies, from tractors to chemical fertilizers to genetically modified foods, have driven up world food production and driven down prices.

However, there are costs and criticisms of these modern practices.  There is potential for great harm to the environment, from poisoned rivers and streams due to fertilizer run off to destruction of rainforest to clear more land.  Others fear “Frankenfoods”, the result of massive genetic engineering programs.  Already animals have been bred to “unnatural” lengths:   turkeys are so bloated that they can no longer walk; chickens grow so quickly that they suffer stress fractures.  And the industrial slaughterhouses where these animals are made into meat are truly horrors.

Are modern, industrial techniques of growing crops and raising(and slaughtering) animals good for the world or are their costs too high?  Would a  more organic or local focus would be better for the world?  For the United States?

The debate (and reaction paper due date) will be April 2-4th (varied from class to class).  Post this blog (and response) before then.

Affirmative action is a federal agenda initiated in the 1960s that’s designed to counteract historic discrimination faced by ethnic minorities, women and other underrepresented groups. To foster diversity and compensate for the ways such groups have historically been excluded, institutions with affirmative action programs prioritize the inclusion of minority groups in the employment, education and government sectors, among others.

 Also Known As: equal opportunity, race-based preferences (http://racerelations.about.com/od/diversitymatters/g/WhatIsAffirmativeAction.htm)

Question:  Should affirmative action programs be abolished? Is there still a need? Is it reverse discrimination?

Don’t forget to comment on someone else’s opinion.

Should the thirty-eight states which currently use capital punishment (the death penalty) be allowed to keep this right, or should it be outlawed across the US?

Remember to respond to another comment. Think about what specifically you like or disagree with. Don’t just write, “I agree with gossipgirl.” Write, “When gossipgirl wrote, ‘i like pink,’ i almost got sick. Pink is the most unappealing color there is; it should be abolished.”

Since 1973, when the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the US (up to 6 months), there have been about 40 million abortions. Should abortion be illegal? 

REMEMBER:  write your one paragraph response to the question. THEN,  comment on someone else’s response (unless you are the first person).

Prostitution has been called by some “the world’s oldest profession” and can be found in most any society around the world.  However, it is also seen as  great moral wrong in many religions and cultures.  Today, in some places (like outside Las Vegas and in Amsterdam) it is a legal business, “sex work”.

Should prostitution be legal across the United States?  Why or why not?

***for the debate you may also prepare notes for discussion of pornography -  a similarly morally questionable issue.

Remember to comment on  someone else’s post in order to earn credit.

Remember to post your name somewhere in the email box – or you will lose credit!

                Last chance for writing a persuasive paper!  If you haven’t done this yet hand it in lose 20% of your grade!

Currently there is a huge debate in the United States over federal government spending.  In a time of economic crisis, many believe that the federal government also must “tighten its belt” and dramatically cut spending.  There are some programs which are popular to cut, like foreign aid, but this makes up only about 1% of the federal budget of $3.55 trillion in 2010.

Take a look at the federal budget of 2010 (I checked the sources – Wikipedia is accurate).  What programs would you cut?  Should no programs be cut?  Either way – why or why not?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget#Total_spending

Note:  make sure you post your blog following the proper format

your email should be the made up email of:   “firstname.lastname@block#.org” like “jebadiah.farrand@block4.org”     

If you don’t do this, I cannot find your name easily and you might get a zero, or make things harder for me.  Follow the directions or lose points.

Connecticut, Massachusettes, Iowa, and Vermont (which was the first state to allow civil unions in 2000) are the only states in the U.S. which allow gay marriage since California’s Proposition 8 was passed, making all previous California gay marriages null and void.  A number of states allow “civil unions,” which offer many, if not all, of the rights of marriage without the title of “marriage”: New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey.  Should gay marriage, with the title of “marriage” be legal in all fifty of the United States? Why or why not?

Note:  make sure you post your blog following the proper format

your email should be the made up email of:   “firstname.lastname@block#.org”

like “jebadiah.farrand@block4.org”     

If you don’t do this, I cannot find your name and you might get a zero, or make things harder for me.  Follow the directions or lose points.

Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act in 1994, allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medicine for people with terminal diseases.  It remained the only stated to do this, until last week, when Washington (state) passed a similar law. Initiative 1000 allows people with less than six months to live to ask their doctors to prescribe a life-ending dose of medicine. Some of the requirements in doing so are that the patient must “make two oral requests, fifteen days apart, and submit a written request witnessed by two people, one of which cannot be a relative, heir, attending physician, or connected with the health facility where the patient is being treated or is a resident” (Ellis).  What is your opinion on this new law, specifically, AND the issue in general: should people who wish to die be allowed to do so?

Ellis, Madeline. Health News. “Washington Adopts ‘Death With Dignity’ Act Legalizing Assisted Suicide.” 3 March 2009.  http://www.healthnews.com/medical-updates/washington-adopts-death-with-dignity-act-legalizing-assisted-suicide-2724.html