Oil Tanker Hijacked November 18, 2008 8:20 AM
It sounds like a plot line for a new James Bond movie - Pirates hijack a Saudi Arabian oil tanker at sea. AOL News reports that a "brand-new MV Sirius Star, with a crew of 25, was seized far off the coast of Kenya on Saturday and the bandits were taking the ship to a Somali port known as a hub of pirate activity." Piracy orginating from Somalia have been a growing problem. "A NATO flotilla of seven ships destroyers from the U.S. and Italy, frigates from Germany, Greece, Turkey and Britain and a Russian missile frigate are already fighting piracy around Somalia. NATO, however, says its priority is escorting World Food Program ships that deliver basic rations for 3 million hungry Somalis," reports Yahoo News.
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-- Association of Young Americans
Energy, Foreign policy, Terrorism | Comments (0)
Bailout of U.S. Automakers? November 17, 2008 5:18 PM
Congress and the President are debating the proposed $25 Billion bailout of the 'big 3' U.S. automakers. "Senate Democrats said they would press ahead with their plan to carve out a portion of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout to pay for the loans, but aides in both parties and lobbyists tracking the plan acknowledged they did not currently have the votes to do so. The White House and congressional Republicans insist that the automaker bailout money instead come from redirecting a separate $25 billion loan program approved by Congress to help the industry develop more fuel-efficient vehicles," reports Yahoo News. President-elect Obama said in a 60 Minutes interview on sunday that "So my hope is that over the course of the next week, between the White House and Congress, the discussions are shaped around providing assistance but making sure that that assistance is conditioned on labor, management, suppliers, lenders, all of the stakeholders coming together with a plan what does a sustainable U.S. auto industry look like?"
While there has been a significant focus on the type of cars and trucks the American automobile manufactures make, their financial condition is also the result of the rising cost of employee and retiree benefits.
What do you think about the federal government giving $25 Billion to American car manufacturers? How about government benefits to private corporations more generally? Share your thoughts and ideas in the Forums.
-- Association of Young Americans
Budget, Economy | Comments (0)
Students Concerned about Federal Budget November 11, 2008 12:37 PM
Initial reports from last week's election are that over 2 million more young people voted in 2008 than in 2004, according to CIRCLE. While there are a multitude of issues of concern to young Americans, A group of young people at the University of Pennsylvania have formed a non-partisan coalition - Pound It - to address federal budget issues, including increasing annual deficits and the growing national debt. Pound It's website describes their goal as follows:
- Hey, do you know how the national debt is going to affect your future? Do you really care? Probably not. However, it's going to have a bigger impact on your life than you may realize. Pound-It is a nonpartisan coalition of students at the University of Pennsylvania, formed to increase awareness about our current budget crisis. Our goal is to start a discussion about balancing the needs of the elderly and the futures of the young. Check out our site for more info. Help us turn that $10 trillion debt into a thing of the past!
Learn more about Pound It at their website and learn more about the federal budget in the Assocation of Young Americans Deficits and Debt Issue Paper. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts and concerns about these important national issues in our Forums.
-- Association of Young Americans
Activism, Budget, Deficits and Debt | Comments (0)
Barack Obama is Elected President November 5, 2008 12:39 PM
Yesterday, Ilinois Senator Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States. Here are excerpts from his speech and Senator John McCain's concession speech.
"Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, 'We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.' And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too."
- President-elect Obama.
"I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that. It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."
-Senator McCain.
Share your thoughts on this historic election and you hopes and cocerns for the future of our country in our Open Forum.
-- Association of Young Americans
ELECTION DAY!! November 3, 2008 3:57 PM
After an incredibly long campaign season, Election Day is upon us. Make sure that you get out and vote on Tuesday for whomever is your candidate of choice. You can get some last minute information about the Presidential candidates positions on a variety of issues here on our website, or at other news outlets.
If you are in Philadelphia, the Association of Young Americans and the Young Women's Network are hosting a Election Results Party on the second floor of the Black Sheep Pub, which is on 17th street between Locust and Spruce Sts. Hope to see you there!!
-- Association of Young Americans
Candidates Take Position on Student Loans October 30, 2008 10:34 AM
The NY Times today covered Senator Obama and McCain's positions on student loans. One of the interesting notes was that Senator Obama only finished paying off his law school loans in 2004! The article presents both candidates views on the issues and how they might make loans less burdensome for the high percentage of young Americans who rely on loans to afford college. Read the article and then comment on their positions in the public forum. And don't forget, if you don't vote, you can't complain. Election day is 5 days away!
-- Association of Young Americans
2008 election, Education | Comments (0)
Top Concern #5: Iraq October 28, 2008 11:21 AM
Although domestic concerns have taken the War from the forefront of many American's minds, Iraq remains one of the top concerns facing our country. The war in Iraq will be almost 6 years old when the next president is sworn into office. According to procon.org, 89% of fatalities in Iraq are under 36 years of age.
Following the Surge' of US forces in the last year, violence across the country decreased. Troop levels have since returned to approximately 150,000 and violence has remained lower. General David Petraeus has spoken about the progress made as a result of the surge, while also cautioning that more hard work remains. There are still concern about the possibility of violence increasing in Iraq. New National Intelligence Estimate is apparently being completed, reports mcclatchydc.com. "A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year."
Sectarian violence and hostility remains a problem. Yahoo News reports that "In Baghdad , where most of the sectarian cleansing has taken place, about 8 percent of the people who moved within the country have gone back to their neighborhoods, according to the International Organization for Migration. Many Iraqi families have returned to their old homes in peace, but a disturbing trend already is emerging: They're being targeted and attacked, and in some cases killed, for returning to their homes. Some returnees have been threatened. Others have found explosives tied to their front doors. Some have had their homes blown up. The trend, along with an uptick in sectarian and ethnic violence in northern Iraq and growing tensions among rival Shiite factions in the south, is a worrisome development for American political and military leaders who're increasingly eager to declare victory and begin withdrawing more U.S. troops from Iraq in order to send more forces to Afghanistan."
Here are links to the Candidates issue pages on Iraq
John McCain (R)
Barack Obama (D)
Bob Barr (L)
Ralph Nader (I)
-- Association of Young Americans
2008 election, Iraq | Comments (0)
Top Concern #4: Climate Change October 20, 2008 11:05 AM
The 4th ranked issue among the young Americans who took the National Issues Survey was Climate Change and the Environment. The Environmental Protection Agency website has the following explanation of global warming caused by climate change on their website:
- Why are greenhouse gas concentrations increasing? Scientists generally believe that the combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities are the primary reason for the increased concentration of carbon dioxide. Plant respiration and the decomposition of organic matter release more than 10 times the CO2 released by human activities; but these releases have generally been in balance during the centuries leading up to the industrial revolution with carbon dioxide absorbed by terrestrial vegetation and the oceans.
"The United States accounts for a quarter of the worlds greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere, with emissions growing at the rate of 2 percent a year []." (23). Burning of fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil, causes the emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Both presidential candidates have discussed the need to use more alternatives to these fossil fuels. Such alternatives include solar, wind, nuclear, and geothermal.
The last few years have seen increased concern and attention paid to climate change. Former Vice President Al Gore won the nobel prize for his work calling attention to the issue and since has started an organization, WeCanSolveIt.org, to work towards a solution. Texas oilman, T. Boone Pickens has started his own efforts, which include creating wind farms across the Midwest of the United States. Such efforts tout not only the environmental impact of alternative energy but also the positive economic impact and job creation.
You can learn about the Presidential candidates positions through the below links to their websites:
Barack Obama (D)
John McCain (R)
Ralph Nader (I)
Bob Barr (L) - Cong. Barr does not have an issue page on his website about Climate Change or the Environment. This is a link to his issue page on Energy policy.
-- Association of Young Americans