Madison+Caudill

Madison Caudill

__**Week of June 20, 2011**__

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced that he will "speed pullout" from the war in Afganistan. By the end of this year, he expects to pull out 10,000 troops and by next summer, an additional 20,000 troops will return home to the United States. Although Afganistan was the base of the attacks during 9/11, Obama states that the "tide of war is receding" and Afganistan no longer offers a terrorist threat to the United States. Although many of people support the withdrawl of troops from Afganistan, a common fear is that the removal is too hasty. Obama's top commander in Afganistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, recommended that the president removes only 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 this winter. In my opinion, I believe Obama's desire to bring troops home hastily is wise. With the war in Afganistan being the longest war America has ever been a part of and costing investments of $120 billion this year alone, it's time to hand security into the hands of the Afgan. As Obama stated, "Over the last decade, we have spent a trillion dollars on war at a time of rising debt and hard economic times.Now, we must invest in America’s greatest resource: our people,"(Lander, 2), it's important that our country rediects it's focus and money on fixing things at home.
 * International News- "Obama Will Speed Pullout From War in Afghanistan."**

This past week, an error in the State Department obliterated thousands of immigrants dreams of being able to call the United States their home. The immigration system in America is based strongly off of family ties, therefore, immigrants from countries whose family members already reside here in the United States have a better chance of getting a visa. To counteract this, every year, a Diversity Visa Lottery is held in the United States where 55,000 visas are granted to a pool of 100,000 immigrants out of the 19 million applicants that apply globally. The new software used this year, however, sent out visas to whom 90% had applied in the frst two days of registration. The glich raised hopes for many immigrants who thought they had finally gained admittance to live in the country of their dreams. Ms. Guniya, a 23 year old woman in Russia who recieved the lotery notification that she had won and then soon after read the notices that the lottery was invalid, expresses her desire to accomplish the American dream, saying, "Living in the U.S. would mean no more displacement, no more problems because of who I was," (Preston,1). I feel deeply sorry for the people who were falsely notified. In my opinion, however, it is right to hold the lottery again in a more fair fashion. I feel that if the lottery wasn't held again, knowing that a glich occured that slighted the other applicants, many people would view the lottery as rigged and an impure process.
 * National News- "State Department Error Dashes Hopes of Thousands Seeking to Live in US."**

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that this summer will be a hopeless one for teens looking for jobs. With the overall unemployment rate continuing to rise in the United States, only 25% of teens are expected to have jobs. Joseph McLaughlin, senior research associate at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, speaks about the cause for this staggering statistic, saying, "...with consumer spending down, the retail sector, a traditional stronghold of teen employment, also has struggled. Tighter municipal budgets also mean fewer jobs at libraries, parks and pools." (Wisely, 1). A scarce amount of available jobs makes finding summer employment nearly impossible. These statistics really hit home for me because I have been trying to find a job since May. Knowing that only 1 out of 4 teenagers looking for a summer job will become employed is a very discouraging statistic. It also points out that the United States is still having a very slow recovery from the recession, with unemployment continuing to slide in a steady downward slope.
 * Economic News- "Sad Summer Ahead for Teen Employment"**

  