Our Government Officials Need To Make Strict Regulations Of The USDA!

I believe our government needs to increase the regulations of the USDA'S (United States Department Of Agriculture) transportation of livestock going to the slaughterhouse, because the ways that livestock are treated in transport and at the slaughterhouse, are very cruel. Most of the livestock are raised for showing for FFA or 4-H projects, and are taken care of for 5-6 months or so then taken to the show by the FFA or 4-H member and shown, and immediately after that they take your animal away and load it onto a big trailer. Most of the livestock are left on the trailer without food or water until they arrive at the slaughterhouse.

If our government officials would force stricter regulations of the USDA animals would be treated better than they are right now. By the time that the livestock arrive at the slaughterhouse, the majority of them are either very ill, can't get up, or already dead. The livestock workers put ropes or chains around their legs so that they can drag the animals off the truck. The animals that arrive at the slaughterhouse that are still able to walk, a lot of them are scared and don't want to get off the trailer, so in result they are shocked repeatedly with electric prods, or dragged off with chains. Once they are unloaded from the trailer they are put through a chute, and shot in the head with a captive-bolt gun to stun them, then they are hung upside down by their back legs before they have their throats cut and their heads, skin, and feet removed by scolding hot water.

The slaughterhouse industry makes more money off of the more animals that it kills, if a worker stops the process to alert officials of abuse at the slaughterhouse they would lose their job. That’s why I believe that it’s the responsibility of our elected governmental officials to help change the treatment of livestock.

Obamacare Website Failure Threatens Health Coverage For Millions Of Americans

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/obamacare-train-wreck_n_4118041.html

 The author of the article Jeffrey Young, states in the article that "More than two weeks into the disastrous roll out of the website HealthCare.gov, made by President Barack Obama's health care reform law still isn't working right." The Obamacare website remains broken, and threatens health coverage for Americans. People begin to wonder why the website still isn't working properly after two whole weeks! There's not much time left for the problems to be resolved, and "If things aren't resolved in three weeks, we've got some serious, serious problems," said Timothy Jost. The White House states that they have tried to fix the problems and that people have started signing up for health care. The price of health insurance is high for uninsured people, and families who buy their health insurance out right. The best thing we can do is to wait until we get news about the website.

Obamacare mandates threaten religious freedom critique

 I chose to critique John Kennedy's column from the article titled "Obamacare mandates threaten religious freedom" because it talks about his opinion of the new affordable health care act. John Kennedy creates the argument that Obamacare is threatening people's religious beliefs due to the "forced" nature of the mandate. As stated in the article, John Kennedy states that the mandate is forcing him and his family to pick between the teachings of their faith, and the operation of their business. John Kennedy being a serious catholic business owner, creates an argument that his religion is at risk from all the options offered by Obamacare. The author talks about the three options offered by Obamacare, that are each unacceptable according to his beliefs; The first option being, violating his faith by complying with the mandate and providing his employees with insurance that covers contraception and sterilization; paying over $16,000,000 in fines per year which will destroy his business resulting in his employees being out of work; or cutting his employees' health benefits so that they do not have to violate their beliefs.They believe contraceptives and sterilization, both violate the first amendment. Even though Kennedy gives reasons as to why he thinks that the mandate violates his faith, he is simply stating his emotions, not facts. Kennedy is depending on his readers to be traditional religious people so he can have a greater effect in spreading his opinion and so he can gain empathy. The author's lack of evidence in the article dismisses his argument to have importance, thus hurting his point. I believe the author's logic is just based on his beliefs.

Not Really A Shutdown??

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/06/gops_massive_fraud_the_shutdown_isnt_really_a_shutdown/

   I think this is an interesting article because it talks about both positive and negative things about the shutdown. As stated in the article it says military conflicts might end, or will possibly be temporarily suspended. If the government shutdown is just a shut down of good things for example food assistance to low-income moms and kids then that is really sad! I sure hope the government doesn't decide to take away financial aid because if they took it away I wouldn't be able to finish college.