fandomhigh | Current Affairs [Thursday, September 5, 2013]

Josh looked up from his iPad as his students arrived in his non-Danger Shop classroom, but he went back to reading and drinking his coffee until they'd gotten themselves settled in.

"Sorry, I was just catching up on the latest out of Syria," he said with a light smile, putting his coffee down next to the cake that had inexplicably appeared on his chair when he'd arrived. "Welcome to Current Affairs, or as I guess should be made clear on this island, current affairs for the United States in September of 2013 where as far as I know, aliens, vampires and giant robots have not invaded. And I'd know: I worked in the White House for the last twelve years, so I've got a clearance so secret I can't even tell you the name of it and have the diplomatic rank equivalent to a four star general."

So there.

"Since you've signed up for this class, I'm gonna assume it's because you want become slightly more informed about the world around you than internet trolls on news sites who blame everything on Obama or Bush in poorly spelled all caps comments, and because of that, you're gonna have to do some reading. We had a team of interns at the White House who would go through all of the major newspapers and websites to put together daily clips for us to read. It looked something like this--" he pointed to a giant stack of papers on his desk, "--and we got it on our desks every morning. In addition, I read the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, and a couple of politically-centered papers as well: Roll Call, The Hill, the National Journal...and a bunch of blogs, too. I'm also following a number of news sites on Twitter, which is a great resource to plug into non-American source of news."

He paused. "I realize now that makes me seen a little obsessive, but my job as a professional political operative was to know this stuff, and to understand how what we were doing was being spun by the media. You only have to pick one source of news--or Buzzfeed and another source of news because every story can't be summarized with cat gifs and start reading it before class each week."

Josh glanced at the iPad again. "The Washington Post has a really handy article called 'Ten Things to Know Today.' I'll read off the issues and then we'll just go from there--ask me any questions you have, start a discussion with your classmates...I want you to mix it up and I expect people to clash on their opinions." His expression turned stern for a moment. "But please stay polite...ish." This was from a man who'd told a Senator to cram his legislative agenda up his ass, so Josh's definition of polite wasn't everyone's. He scanned the news. "Okay, we'll talk about eight of these because I can't think of anything I care about less than who Scarlett Johansen is marrying and sports isn't really the focus of this class. Everything else is fair game."

With that, he read off the other eight news snippets ~~that are linked above because Jesus, Josh talks forever~~.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Wtf cakes.

Wonder how Josh got anything done between reading the news...

1. SYRIA: Obama, a proponent of restraint and global cooperation, is leading the charge for a military strike against Syria — against the objections of most major U.S. allies. Why?

2. OHIO REVIEWING KIDNAPPER’S SUICIDE: The state prison system wants to find out how Ariel Castro managed to hang himself with a bedsheet while in protective custody.

3. WHY SUMMIT HAS A DIFFERENT FEEL: Economic matters normally dominate the G-20 summit. This year, though, Syria’s civil war is eclipsing those issues.

4. EXPLORING STICKER PRICE OF HEALTH CARE LAW: A study finds monthly premiums for a 40-year-old buying a mid-range plan will average close to $330 and nearly $615 for a 60-year-old.

5. WHERE FUNNY MONEY IS FLOURISHING: Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world’s No. 1 counterfeiter of U.S. dollars.

6. N.H. PATIENT LIKELY DIED OF RARE BRAIN DISEASE: Officials believe there’s a remote chance up to 13 others in multiple states were also exposed to the fatal illness through surgical equipment.

7. WHAT MORE AMERICANS ARE WORRYING ABOUT: Privacy concerns are on the rise, with 50 percent of U.S. Internet users saying they’re leery of the amount of information available about them online, a survey shows.

8. THEN: 2-WAY WRIST RADIO; NOW: SAMSUNG SMARTWATCH: Decades ago, Dick Tracy sported a wristwatch-like device he could talk into like a phone. The technology that once seemed futuristic will be available by Christmas (and Josh wants one).

Pick a topic to discuss and toss out your opinion about it!

Edited 2013-09-05 10:30 (UTC)

He's still looking for a TA if you want to end up putting together press clippings for the class and to be called Donna...

Josh Lyman, throwing his hat into the ring for the teal deer favorite again...

Raleigh Becket

Why would Raleigh pick the Syria topic? It was like watching a wee fawn try to stumble along.

"Well, shouldn't we step in to protect people from people that are killing them?" Yes, yes, ignore the historical and cultural issues that come up when America runs around trying to police the world.

"'We' as a globe full of people who agree being gassed is bad or 'we' as in the United States because no one else wants to be involved?" Josh asked a little dryly.

"We as in everyone," Raleigh replied. See, this right here is why he ends up joining a multinational organization dedicated to beating up monsters with mechs. "If we stand around and do nothing, then we're no better than the guys gassing people."

"But who are the guys gassing people?" Josh asked. "Is there compelling evidence that proves it was Assad, or is he just a dick and so we figure it was probably him?"

You can tell why State didn't let Josh conduct negotiations ever.

Well, he was doing better than Raleigh? Congrats, Josh. Better than a teenager.

"Then we investigate it," Raleigh replied. "Instead of waiting around for more people to die."

"Oh, there won't be a time-out or anything for people to look around and take their time," Josh said. "The UN went in and looked around--they got about an hour and a half on the ground before the government took them away because they couldn't confirm their safety. They say that, yeah, there were weapons used but they can't tell who fired them."

Gertrude Yorkes

"Well, that's not shady at all."

Josh nodded. "That's why the administration is getting a little impatient. What do you think should happen?"

Making him think about things. God. What kind of teacher were you, Josh?

"What's stopping everyone else from wanting to get involved?"

Kathy Li

Kathy was frowning at the unhelpfulness of her choice. "'A study'? Which study? Do they mean Obamacare? Are they comparing it to other insurance costs? This is really vague!"

Also, she was very much in favor of Obamacare so she was inclined to be leery when she saw articles speaking negatively about it.

"Several things," Josh said. "There's a 'none of my business' crowd, a fairly large 'fighting violence with violence is going to get us nowhere' crowd, a whole bunch of countries who just don't have the money or the militaries to get involved, even if they wanted to, which not many do."

Josh was frowning at the story, too. "Yeah, hyperlinks to the bigger discussion would have been handy," he agreed.

"I don't really have an opinion on this," Kathy said. "Well, I do on the article, but not what it's purporting to be about. Should I choose something else?"

"Sure," Josh said. "Do you have an opinion on really expensive watches?"

"Cool but utterly out of my price range?"

Josh laughed. "Mine too. Maybe we need to be nicer to rich people."

Kathy flashed him a grin. "You know, if that's another class you wanted to offer..."

She'd take it!

Josh laughed. "I'm a Democrat. I think a Republican has to do that class. They have more experience."

Current Affairs [Thursday, September 5, 2013]

Sign in [9/5]

Listen to the lecture [9/5]

Your News Choices Today [9/5]

Talk to Josh!

OOC

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