Andrew Reiff

Normal Blog Posts

International

Summary- Pentagon says ships harassed by Iran

Three Iranian speedboats harassed a small convoy of American ships off of the coast of Iran. The speedboats approached rapidly and said something over the radio that was like, your ship is going to explode. The American captain did not fire on the boats but was almost to the stage where he gave a warning shot. Iran said that it was a "normal" incident, and it was not a big deal, but America said that the ship was threatened and is taking this act of aggression very seriously.

Opinion-

I think that the American captain did the right thing by not firing on these boats even though there was plenty of reason to. He exercised restraint and may have saved a war that really the U.S. is not ready for. This may have seemed like a disturbing but otherwise harmless occurrence, but in reality things like these can have disastrous consequences for all involved. It was a bad situation and it seems like the US barely got out alive, although Iran needs its stinking butt kicked bad... now is not the time though.

National

Summary- Youth Vote Tripled in Iowa

The vote of people aged 17-29 in Iowa tripled in the caucuses. Obama and Huckabee might just owe their victories to these young voters. But youth organizers are unsure whether the story will be repeated in New Hampshire next Tuesday. They say that they really focused their efforts on Iowa and not as much in New Hampshire, and plus college kids are still on winter break, which could play a factor.

Opinion-

This is great news. This demographic has always been the weakest when it comes to voting, so maybe young people all around will take heart and start to vote more. It is sure needed if the election percentages want to go back above sixty percent. This organization called "Rock the Vote" seems to be doing good work, and maybe they should focus their efforts on a more national movement. I am sure a lot of old people would give money to them because they want to see some young faces when they go to the polls. Activists say that the youth vote in New Hampshire has been going up, and so expect the trend to continue, and for candidates to target the youth more in their campaigns.