Friday, February 13, 2009
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to
[I, assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The average guy's guide to
limited omniscience and understanding people
By Neil James Peters
assistant arts editor
njpsoB3@psu.edu
How many times have you interacted
with a person and left the situation feel
ing totally confused and bewildered? For
example, any interaction with a girl
back in high school, maybe? Or possi
bly now, it's a professor who has an
unnecessary attitude problem when you
just ask a simple question. For exam
ple, back in high school, I asked my
chemistry teacher if putting pure potas
sium in water would be a cool experi
ment. The seven-feet-tall ogre hassled
me for ten minutes about my level of
incompetence and whether or not I had a
death wish. I was actually kidding when
I asked, but evidently the joke didn't
come across. Who knew?
What I'm getting at is that people can
be hard to understand, sometimes to the
point of irritation. It doesn't matter if
they are friends, coworkers, superiors or
whatever. They can be aggressive, quiet,
off-kilter, flaky, overly nice, or just
plain annoying. When this happens it is
really easy to get aggravated and act
rashly. However, acting out in right
eous indignation usually gets you into
trouble later on. What all of us need to
bear in mind is that everyone is differ
ent and there are always multiple sides
to each story. So try to think things
through before grabbing a torch and
pitchfork out of frustration. Though,
for certain situations, over-thinking a
problem can be just a bad as flying off
the handle and tossing a computer mon
itor across a physics lab.
With as many "buts" and "sort of's"
as the periodic table, figuring out the
right way to handle a conflict can be a
tad confusing. But fear not, because
below are some basic rules on how to
handle these terrible social traps.
I . Give them a break. Not everyone
operates the same way you do. Okay, so
they don't return yOur calls immediate
ly, or they don't reply to a wall post on
Facebook. This does not mean that they
hate you or never want to see you
again. They just may have different pri
orities and can't get to it immediately. I
currently have at least five friends who
never return my calls. We have been
Debt, debt, and more debt: when will our politicians wake up?
By Edward Miseta
Lecturer in Economics a Behtend
erm I 05 4psu.edu
In all the debate currently going on
over the 900 billion dollar - Let Our
Children Pay For It Later" bill, the only
word I have not heard mentioned by any
politician is China. And yet, this is a
word that I believe Americans need to
hear and ponder when deciding whether
we should support this massive boon
doggle. Why China? I'll explain that in
a minute. But first, let's look at where
we stand and why this expensive pack
age should be a concern to all
Americans, and especially all of you.
Let's assume you run out of cash this
week. You know that next week you
will still need to eat. It would be diffi
cult to go to class and study without
proper nourishment. Would you have a
problem with going to Mom or Dad for
the money? Probably not. I think your
parents would understand your situation
and happily send you the cash.
Now let's assume that you have
money for food, but you run out of cash
to pay for your weekly allotment of cig
arettes and beer. Would you call Mom or
Dad and ask them to send you money for
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friends since elemental) , school and still
hang out all the time; they just don't
return my calls. It's nothing personal:
it's just how they are. So don't worry
about it.
2. Step outside yourself. In a lot of
cases, a person with an attitude is deal
ing with some personal problem and
this negative behavior is just their way
of dealing with it. Not everyone is a
perfect saint 24/7. So it may just be
your bad luck that you caught them at
one of their bad moments. So, don't
take it personally. The person may not
even realize that he/she is being a turd.
Take it on the chin and move on.
3. Communicate. Say your room
mate has an odor problem. This is an
example of something that you can't
really ignore. So in this case you're
going need to grow some stones and
confront them with the problem. But,
like a good Dane Cook joke, the deliv
ery is crucial. The only way to criticize
a person on their lifestyle is to be as
polite as humanly possible, and even
then, it can easily end explosively. So
be prepared for either some awkward
silences or a battle of epic proportions.
However, if you manage to win that
fight, you are golden. Good job there.
4. Let it go. It's really easy to harbor
ill will against somebody who has cline
us wrong. We feel hurt and want some
kind of justice for how we are forced to
feel. Because we are good people, damn
it, and we deserve to be treated better.
True, we-all deserve better, but this does
not necessarily mean that we are going
to be treated like kings every second of
every day by each person we encounter.
So let it go. If someone was snippy
with you on Frickiy, don't spend all
weekend stewing over how big a douche
they were. Don't get upset over how
your friendship is over or whether or
not you are going to give them the
silent treatment on Money. Ockis are
they have forgotten all about it and
everything will be hack to normal the
next time you see them.
5. Be cool. Stay calm and think
things through. Don't fly off the handle
and say something that you'll regret.
Because once you say or do something,
you can't take it back. Just a heads up
there.
that? I hope not. There are some things
that are worth borrowing for, and some
that are not. Hopefully most of you are
able to distinguish between the two. For
some reason, our politicians seem
unable to (~3 / 4 3 the same.
The Perfect Storm
The great United States of America is
currently over $lO trillion in debt. Our
country is borrowing money simply to
pay interest on its debt, a practice known
as debt surfing. Most financial experts
will tell you that for over-spending fam
ilies, debt surfing is the last stop before
bankruptcy. There are many experts who
believe that is exactly where the U.S. is
headed. To make matters worse, we have
millions of baby boomers who are about
to start drawing billions from Social
Security, a Ponzi scheme that is broke
because of our politicians' habit of "bor
rowing" the money to pay bills. Add up
the unfunded liabilities from Medicaid,
Medicare, and Social Security, and our
total debt rises to around $6O trillion.
In 1.0.U.S .A (www.iousathemovie
.com), a documentary that came out last
year, David Walker, former comptroller
general of the U.S., argues that our
expanding government, massive entitle
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PERSPECTIVES
Afghanistan: time for change?
By Christopher Brown
The Taliban in Afghanistan controls
over 70 percent of the Afghani country
side, Opium production is skyrocketing.
This week, the main supply route tbr
American tbrces through the Khyber
Pass was cut off by the Taliban, tbrcing
the Unites States to rely on Russia to
allow supplies through.
The Afghani President, Ham id Karzai •
has become increasingly powerless and
his government corrupt. In a country
where illiteracy approaches 70 percent,
training a secular, competent. and pro
fessional police and military is becom
ing increasingly difficult. The border
between Afghanistan and Pakistan pro
vides a safe haven for terrorists and mil
itants, going where the U.S. military
cannot Ibllow.
One of the first problems President
Barack Ohama must deal with is
Afghanistan. Seven years after the ini
tial invasion, the United States and our
NATO allies have little to show for all
the sacrifices ma d e by our soldiers and
Afghanis. Traditionally thought of as
the "good' war, Afghanistan sat by the
wayside as the conflict in Iraq escalated.
However, as the United States begins its
withdrawal from Iraq, new calls to esca
late the war in Afghanistan are occur
ring. However, befbre more resources
are committed to the effort, an honest
assessment of the challenges, goals, and
capabilities should he expressed to the
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a l of m 514
Rachel: Andy Bamberg Christine: Sidney Crosby
Connor: the Pink Plowerßangerii-- Neil: Kristen Bell
Jennifer: Hugh Jackman Keegan: Jenna Fischer
Matt: Maggie Gyllenhaal Kay: You!
Evan: Kate Beckinsale Jeremy: *pass*
Nick: Kristen Wigg Emily: Joshua Jackson
ment programs, and foreign ikbt have
created an economic disaster of epic and
unprecedented proportions. Our budget,
savings, trade, and leadership deficits
have created a financial "Perfect Storm"
that is threatening* to engulf the entire
As of November 2008, the U.S. owed
China a whopping $681.9 billion, up
from $486.9 billion in February 2008 (a
409 k increase over nine months, if
you're doing the math at home). That
means the average American now owes
China S4,O(X). Our debt to the oil
exporting countries rose from $146 bil
lion to $l9B billion over that same peri
od (www.treas.gov/tic/mth.txt). Worse
yet, our government is projected to run
deficits for the next ten years, which will
add an additional $3 to $3.5 trillion to
our already soaring debt.
Enter The Stimulus Nonsense
Regardless of where our debt stands,
no one can deny that the U.S. is current
ly in recession. The debate now is over
how to best heal our ailing economy.
Many politicians believe in the
Keynesian theory, which states that if
the economy (ties not return to equilib
rium on its own, the government may
contributing write!
cmbs3 1 3th psu.edu
American people.
Admittedly, President Karzai has lost
a lot of support from regular Afghanis
and he may be unable to win them back
over. Likewise, any good will the
United States gained from ousting the
Tahban when it invaded, has faded.
According to Robert Haddick at
Foreign Policy, "Although lacking a
plan. Obama still intends to sharply
increase in 2009 the number of U.S.
soldiers in the country, from about
32,000 todty to more than 50,000 later
this year. - A large increase, but still
well short of anything approaching the
accepted 10:1 ratio for troops needed to
combat a counter insurgency.
So what could he possibly do with
that many soldiers? Afghanistan is not
Iraq. Iraq was a functioning secular state
with a stable income from oil profits
and tourism. Afghanistan has arguably
never resembled a stable, functioning
society.
Furthermore, there are real challenges
to creating a stable economy not
grounded in the production of opium.
According to the Associated Press,
"Afghanistan produces more than 90
percent of the world's opium, the main
ingredient in heroin." That's why I
couldn't help but laugh when I read that
Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Rangin
Dadfar Spanta was offended when soon
to be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
described Afghanistan as a "narco state."
Some real change could occur fast if we
get a handle on this problem, though
it's not as if we're not succeeding for
need to increase spending to get it there.
If you listen to the media, you would
think that every economist is of this
mindset. Unfortunately, nothing could
be further from the truth. Most econo
mists today would consider themselves
monetarists: believers in using the Fed
and the money supply to control our
expansions and contractions.
Our current administration is clearly
in the Keynesian corner. Unfortunately,
what started off as a stimulus package to
build roads and bridges to put Americans
to work has turned into a massive spend
ing package that seems to have little to
do with job creation. I could go through
a litany of projects that are included in
the package and which seem to have
nothing to do with jobs, but will instead
mention just a few:
$B3 billion for the earned income cred-
$B9 billion for Medicaid
$2O billion for food stamps
$3O billion for COBRA
I do not see a single job being created
from the $222 billion listed above. For
our politicians to call this a stimulus
rather than outright welfare is a travesty.
If the U.S. were not in debt, if we had
the money to pay for the programs, and
The Behrend Beacon I 5
want of effort
U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
Hubert E. Bagley Jr. documented our
efforts and failures in a paper for the
Army War College in March 2004.
Bagley wrote, "Driven by circum
stances, opium cultivation has become,
for many Afghan farmers, the main
source of income. The earned revenue,
while not earth shaking by American
standards, certainly enhances the liveli
hood of poppy farmers and traffickers. - I
find it hard to believe that one of the
most technologically advanced farming
countries in the world, the United
States, can't figure out a way to help
Afghani farmers turn a profit, even if it
means providing some subsidies.
Luckily, Secretary of State Clinton and
Special Envoy to Afghanistan and
Pakistan Richard Holbrooke have
already tried to increase interagency
coordination to mobilize all portions of
the federal government.
It is still not entirely clear what the
troops hope to accomplish. The Obama
administration has already been reducing
expectations about what is possible in
Afghanistan. In his Inaugural Address
Obama mentioned a "hard earned peace,"
echoing Nixon's "peace with honor. -
This is the first step in preparing the
American people for realistic expecta
tions for the possible outcomes in the
war in Afghanistan, finally returning
:why the surge in troops?
if we felt the spending would help
enough Americans so as to justify under
taking it, then fewer Americans would
object to the spending package.
However, when we are $l() trillion in
debt, have no money, and will have to
go to China to borrow a trillion dollars
to pay for it, can anyone honestly say
this is a good use of resources? Do we
really need to put our children and grand
children (and, of course all of you) deep
er into debt so that Americans today can
continue to buy cell phones, iPods,
Netflix, XM satellite radio, Wii game
systems, and fast food?
I believe the U.S. should do all it can
to get the economy back on track. A tax
cut would immediately put money in the
hands of consumers. A business tax cut
would immediately put money into cor
porations that desperately need it.
Unfortunately, most of the spending in
the non-stimulating stimulus package
will do nothing to put Americans to
work. It will only force us to bormw
more money from China to pay tbr gov
ernment cigarettes and beer, and create a
larger debt that all of you will have to
payoff in your lifetime. Let's hope that
saner heads will prevail.
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