American Studies Controls the World

So we all know by now that our American Studies class changes the world. During our perilous times unit, the stock market went into a rapid decline that later became know to the United States as an economic recession. May 20th marks another one of these so called coincidences. On May 20th, 2009 Iran launched a surface-to-surface missile that has a range of 1200 miles. This is huge news because that is within range of Israel. This is a "coincidence" because just a couple weeks ago, we held our war simmulation in which Iran announced that they would begin testing nuclear weaponry. In our simmulation, World War III broke out and Israel got wiped off the face of the planet. Hopefully the real life crisis will be handled differently.

According to a news article in the New York Times, Iran has been making significant progress in the three steps to obtaining nuclear weapons: "enriching uranium to weapons grade; developing a missile capable of reaching Israel and parts of Western Europe; and designing a warhead that will fit on the missile." This is not good news. The missile that was launched yesterday not only was within range of Israel, but also United States bases in the Persian Gulf. Hopefully World War III will be avoided or in other words, hopefully our class no longer controls the fate of the universe.

Pat Tillman: Hall of Fame?

The other day, I saw an interesting piece on Pardon the Interruption (PTI), a program on ESPN. Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser debated whether Pat Tillman should be admitted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Although I could not find the segment online, I still wanted to open up a discussion on whether or not Pat Tillman should be admitted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Reasons For: I found an interesting article on nflfanhouse.com arguing that Tillman should be elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. The facts are that Tillman turned down a 3-year, $36 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to serve his country. Cris Collinsworth commented in an interview prior to the Arizona vs. Atlanta playoff game that Tillman was eligible this year for the Hall of Fame. He argues that: "This guy [Tillman] is the very essence of what we all hope the NFL and its players will ultimately be." It seems that inducting Tillman is the way to go and that the NFL should honor him for his bravery and decision to fight for what he felt was right.

Reasons Against: Quite frankly, Tillman did not put up the numbers or help his team win the Superbowl. He walked away from football to pursue other means, which is very honorable, but does not relate to the Hall of Fame. Tillman hurt his team by leaving, and if he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, could potentially take the spot of another football player that could be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

In conclusion, I think the right thing to do is induct Tillman. It is easy to argue that his bravery alone deserves to be honored. That is why I feel he should be inducted, but I'm curious how other people feel. Is inducting him a no-brainer?