An American Final

I see soldiers outside of a house. I see one of them attempting to open a door. I see two of them looking in the same direction.
I think that these soldiers are raiding this house. I think that this is Iraq.I think that this picture looks like a picture from Vietnam. I think that these soldiers are just like soldiers 30 years ago.
I wonder if we are just replaying our wars in different locations. I wonder if Ameirca will in 30 years start another war half way around the world. I wonder what happens after they open the door.

What I really think is that America is repeating itself in so many ways. In 1941 we thought we were completely safe because of our borders, our oceans. No one would attack us, but we were sorely wrong. Then almost exactly 70 years later, we were attacked by a new form of enemy. But once again we thought that we were impervious to attack because we had won the cold war and there was no one left to stand against us.
Also when we fought in Vietnam, we thought that we would go in and they would just sit down. But it turned out the they didn't want to give up their land. Then in Iraq we once again though we would be in and out before Christmas, but 6 years later we are still there. We need to learn from our historical mistakes so we don't make them again.

Never make an absolute

Obama recently made a comment saying that he was all right with "enhanced interogation methods" in certain circumstances. This goes back to one of the oldest politician trick in the book; never make an absolute gesture. When politicians say they are going to do something, they usually end up no doing it. For instance, Bush sr promised no new taxes so when he did raise taxes, people were furious.

Now Obama, once saying that this type of interogation is a terrible thing, is saying that he will leave it open becuase now that he has gotten in the drivers seat, it is not as clear as it once looked.

This goes back to the real question in my opinion, can we trust politicians "promises"? I feel that if we dont trust our government then what is the point of having a government in the first place. I am not mad at Obama for switching because I agree with what he has just done.

What do you think should be done about "Enhanced interogation"? Would you go back on what you said even if it meant going against your morals?

North Koreans have lost their minds

Yesterday, North Korea, against the will of the rest of the world, tested a nuclear bomb. This is the second time in three years that NK has gone against the UN and tested a nuclear weapon. Even China, their biggest ally said, "The Chinese government expresses firm opposition to this". They seem to think that the international world will just sit back and wait until they have the technology to launch intercontinental missiles. For right now though, i agree with them, not with what they did, but how the UN is doing nothing. They can sanction them, send them mean letters, and condemn them, but it doesnt change anything. They will still do it. It reminds me in a sense of Hitler, Europe got mad and said don't do it, but he just laughed.

In April NK sent out a statement saying that if any nation attempts to sanction their attempts at a nuke, they will consider it a declaration of war and respond in such. But what NK doesnt seem to realize is that they are alone in their crazy rants, they dont have an ally that will back them in the event of a war.

The scary thing about this is that NK is getting closer to perfecting their nukes/missles. In 2006 their nuke exploded with less than 1 kiliton of force. This one though exploded in the range of 10-20 kilitons, about the size of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their missiles are also getting better, their recent missile made it half way across the pacific before failing.

What do you think needs to be done about NK? Is war inevitable?

The things the media refuses to cover

Why is it that when a person, specifically a white person, gets murdered in the north side the news is all over it like a vulter on a carcass, but when an african american gang member is gunned down in broad day light on the south side, it doesn't even make the nightly news? Is it because it happens so regualarly that the media has just stopped paying attention? Is it because the news is not "Spectacular", and the news is trying to cut spending? Or is it simply becuase the news is racist and doesn't want to cover that "type" of story?

Another thing to think about is the amount of attention the murder gets if it is a black man killing a white man, or vice versa. It seems that when you hear "another gang murder" it just skips your mind. But when you hear white man murders black man, a light goes off in your head and it says "Hate crime". I believe that the reason this gets so much attention is because people still haven't gotten over the civil rights movement and constantly seeing white police officers beat black men and women. Just like in the soiling of old glory, one small clip like the rodney king beating can spark a huge uprising.

The Darkness of America

My next door neighbor to me is the stereotypical American. He works a 9-5 job, goes hunting occasionally, and loves American sports. Then only 2 months after 9/11 he bought an enourmous flagpole that is still outside his house. Every night, rain or shine, it is waving there with a spot light on it. But tonight when I took the photo, there was no rain and barely any light. This somehow made me think of the flag as America and how we are in a dark time in our history and how we do stand alone in the world. In the picture, you can barely make out the flag let alone the background. The only part of the flag that really sticks out is the stripes; the origional 13 states in all of their glory. It makes a person think that if our country went through a revolution where a bunch of farmers with rifles and pitchforks could beat the most powerful army in the world, then we can get through a war against a far weaker military and an economic crisis. Finally this photo reminds me that the light will always shine on the American flag and that there will be brighter times in the American future.
P.S sorry no photo yet, can't load onto comp

300 years later and there still here

When I hear the word pirate I think of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. But now there is a new term to go along with pirates; Somalia. In the past few years there has been more and more activity involving these "pirates". They sneak up on big vessels and attempt to hijack then ship and then they try to sell the hostages back to their country for millions of dollars. This has become an extremely profitable business making over and estimates 200 million this year. With most somalians not making over 600$, this is a huge step up. The problem is the countries that have their ships being hijacked can't go to the country to stop this because as of right now, Somalia has no central government. There are tribal regions and the leaders are payed off by the pirates to tell the FBI and CIA that they don't know where they are. In my opinion we should begin to arm the ships with weapons of their own. We need to get rid of old maritime laws and start looking at the 21st century. People are going to commit mutiny anymore, we can trust them.

Take me!

Recently the university of Conneticut was involved in a scandal in which they illegally recruited a player from High School. Supposedly they had a prior personal relationship with the player and therefore, it is illegal. This is not the first time there has been a scandal on recruiting, Maya Moore a girls player from UConn was claimed to have been illegally recruited. And at Florida state there were also a few players who were claimed to have, "To much face time" with the coach. I feel that for a highschooler, there are just to many rules and regulations. It is not their fault that the coach is breaking rules and I feel bad for all that falls on their shoulders (not that I wouldn't love to be recruited). I feel that coaches need to be trustworthy when it comes to this because if they are not, they dont deserve to be coaching.

Our growing violence

In the past 50 years the USA has fought in more wars than we did in our first 150 years of founding. We went from being an isolationist country that barely had a standing army, to a nation that prides itself on a nation that spends twice as much money per soldier than any other country. We stick our nose into everything, our reasoning: Spread democracy. What I think is the real reason is that we are becoming more and more nervous around other countries. We think that we are always under constant threat of attack and therefore we want to attack the problem before it attacks us. We have become so cocky with our military that we believe that whoever we attack, we will win. And I honestly believe this is a good thing, with out a little swagger we would succumb to pressure and would not be a powerful nation.

The lost stories behind pictures

When people look at this picture they think of America and how we fought in WW2. The bravery our soldiers have and how we claimed this land as America's. What people don't remember is losing 7000 men and how we had over 19000 wounded. People don't remember that this battle stretched on for 25 days after this. To American's this signifies America's dominance over Japan and the closing of the war. People look at photos and immediately hundreds of thoughts come to mind. There is no back story, just a thought of what might have been. If someone who never knew anything about hisory looked at a picture of Hitler being greeted by people, or holding a baby, they would think he was an inspirational leader. What they don't know is that he led one of the biggest genocides of all time. Our minds think faster than we can process so when we are shown photos, wild back stories come to our mind. I know when I first saw this picture at Iwo Jima, I though it was a picture of America reclaiming the south in the civil war. Then I thought it was probably in Tennesse at the Smokies and in minutes I had wild back stories for every person in the photo. It was only later did I realize that this was taken an ocean away. That is why photo's are so interesting because people can think a thousand different stories happened from just one image.

Would I of really done it?

We look back on instances like slavery, womens rights, and the civil rights movement and we say, "Wow, I cant believe that people would ever discriminate like that." Then we tell ourselves that we would of done something about it if we were there....or would we? To live in times like the civil rights movement would of been crazy. But I don't really know if I would of done something. To participate in it would mean that I would be putting my future and my life in danger. I would have to accept the fact that I could be arrested and potentially put in the hospital for my actions. Everyone wants to think that they would have helped out in whatever way possible. But if you grew up learning that black people were less than you, would you of really tried to change something that went in your favor. I would like to believe that I would of.

Reconstructing the USA

Some people think that as soon as the civil war was over, the country was just fine, there was no fighting afterwards, and everyone was happy. What people dont realize is that there were many southerners who believed that the war was not over and the Lee had decieved them. They were very bitter because now, all of their workers were gone and they had to pay for labor now. With in months of the wars end there were already whispers of a second war. Almost 1/5 of the southern men were dead and the country was in mourining. What the government tried to do next overall did not word. By tripling taxes on already poor people they just further infuriated the people. Instead of putting out a fire, America just poured gasoline on it. Now 150 years later, there are still confederate flags being sold and only 50 years earlier african americans were given civil rights. I believe if America had not charged up the nose, then things would have been different. In my opinion if a stimulus package was given to each separate state, then things would of been much better. And if someone thinks there wouldn't of been enough money, we could of just borrowed from one of our foreign allies. This in my opinion, would of been much better than the taxation stratagey.

Dear Mr. Obama

Recently I have heard many people either raving or complaining about what Obama is doing. I feel if I could write to Obama and then get a response back, it would answer many cares and concerns about his presidency. If I were to write a letter it would go like this: Dear Mr. Obama,
I have been watching from the sidelines over the past months and I have decided that you are fit to be president. I was a McCain supporter through and through, but I think that having you as president will not be the worst thing. The reason I am writing to you though is to express a few words of advice to being a successful president. One of things you should do is to success are to building coalitions of allies before doing anything outside of our borders. Also, be careful before you close Guantanomo Bay because there are still a lot of people there who would wish extreme harm on to us. My final piece of advice is to work with congress on a bipartisan basis to establish an agenda that is the consensus of all and not only your party.
When the USA went into Afghanistan we had a very large coalition of countries backing us, many of them were sending troops to support our cause. This was one of the greatest things Bush did as a president. After starting the war in Afghanistan, his approval rating was above 80%. Almost all of America was behind him and better yet, most of the World was behind him. Then in 2003, Bush decided to invade Iraq with much less Coalition support and in turn, his approval ratings plummeted and his world view went straight down the toilet. Now with an approval rating of just over 30%, Bush is being called one of the worst presidents ever. Approval ratings aren’t the only thing that matters, but to have an approval from the rest of the world is very important. Our allies need to be able to trust us to let them know our plans and to have them give us their input.
My second piece of advice is the most important to our national security; this is to be careful about closing down Guantanomo Bay. The reason for opening this detainment clinic is to make sure terrorists do not have the chance to attack us. Though there have been many innocent people sent there, the lives saved by this prison out weigh any number of people sent there. Also there are still many dangerous people who are there such as the bombers of the USS Cole. These men would like nothing else than to cause mass death to the USA. This is why you must take caution before shutting this place down. For the past 7 years, it has been holding the scum of the world and now you are about to bring them back to the mainland? There needs to be a solid place for them to be held in order to do this so I pray that you do have a place in mind.
My final piece of advice is being said in order to keep our country united. You need to cross the party border and make a bipartisan cabinet. You can’t just be a lap dog for the Democratic Party. You need to think for yourself and pass a bill not because it is from Democrats, but because you like the bill and feel that it would better help the American cause. Also you need to meet with leaders from both parties in order to create an agenda for the years to come. By doing this you will create trust throughout all parties and in turn it will be a much more equal America. From Walt Lyon I feel that by writing this letter and getting a response, it would make me feel much more comfortable as a citizen. I know this does not have much relevance to what we are doing in class but I have been reading so much about what Obama has been doing and I just had to get out what I would say to Obama.

How far does free speech go?

Recently I was looking on CNN.com when i noticed a very peculiar article titled "Iran attacks Hollywood over movie 'insults' " This article was about how Iran has become increaseingly angry over movies that portray Iran as a terrible nation which runs on fear. In particular, Iran pointed out two films, "Not Without my Daughter" and recent blockbuster hit "300". I have personally never seen the first film, but from what I have heard it is about a woman who marries an Iranian man and after years of happy marriage they decide to travel to Iran to visit the husbands family. But while they are there, the woman is required to do all the Iranian laws like woman have to be covered at all time. It is then revealed that the husband planned the whole thing and as soon as they get there, he becomes increasingly violent. I will not ruin the ending but it portrays Iranians as sexists and mean. In 300 it shows the persian empire as a nation in fear that only does what their leader says because they think he is a God. The Iranians feel this is a false potrayal of Iranians and they feel it is insulting to them. I believe that it is free speech and that Hollywood has the right to portray people as they wish. There are so many other movies such as "W" or "Team America" that portray people in a way that they might feel is untrue. I believe that if Iran is going to portray Jewish people as pigs in public speeches. Then they should have to suffer themselves looking like evil people on screen.

White man can't jump

For many years people have had the notion that black people play basketball, white people play golf, and people from Boston and Minnesota play hockey. This stereotypes have been backed up by some pretty heavy statistics. But if people would use their eye's they would see what I see in that, almost every NBA player is over 6'6, every golf player has been practicing since the age of 5, and Minnesota is right next to Canada. People play these sports because it is regional or because they were gifted with these height, or because their parents taught them. I believe that these myths, though backed up by many stats, can be proved false. In hockey there are people from the tropics who become stars in the NHL, just how in the NBA there are people like Steve Nash who are from Canada and just have a great basketball intuition. In Golf people like John Daly can hit the ball a mile and he even admits he doesn't put as much time into it as he should. Everywhere there is a stat to prove a point there are other stats to disprove that point. In my opinion people need to keep an open mind about these topics because there are always exceptions to every stat.

The biased sides of Media

Today in class OC made a comment about how Fox news is a "Right wing propaganda machine". At the time this made me very angry because in my opinion, Fox news is the only news station that is not horribly liberal. Because I remember just as clear that the anchors on MSNBC called president Bush, "Bush". I think it is a lone island surrounded by a sea of liberal media. But in this post I am going
to try and take a neutral side.
Many people believe that the news has its neutral stations like CBS, PBS, and ABC. Then there are the two polar stations in MSNBC (liberal) and FOX (conservative). Every single republican has its counter part, Bill O'Reilly and Keith Oberman. Ying and yang. To really get a scope of everything, one must watch Fox and MSNBC to get both points of view.
Back to what I believe, even though in my opinion almost every station is liberal, I should watch MSNBC to get a different point of view. This is the great thing about media, there are stations for everyone (some more than others).

Draft time

The bears are infamous for bad first round picks, from Curtis Enis, Cade McNown, to this years Chris Williams, we have had nothing but busts. We need solid selections to be a force next year in the NFC. In my opinion the two people we need are in the pictures, Taylor Mays and Dez Bryant. Taylor is a safety at USC and he was rated one of the best in the country, he is tall, strong, and fast so he will be able cover receivers and blitz. For to long we have had to count on Mike Brown to take care of the secondary, but he gets hurt to often and we need a back up plan. The other person I would recommend drafting is Dez Bryant, a wide receiver out of Oklahoma State. He is 6'2 and has great hands. This is exactly the type of receiver we need to be a counter to Devin Hester's run and gun style. He would provide us with great over the field coverage and the occasional long bomb. If nothing the bears just need to draft for the secondary, and receivers because this year, those were our Achilles heels.

Its the most horrible time of the year

The holiday period is one of, or the, best time of the year. But to be followed up by such a period of mourning and stress is almost cruel. Following the winter break is final exams, what most students say is the worst time of the year. Students press, get lack of sleep, get anxiety, and many more terrible side effects. to cram all the knowledge one has learned in 4 months, and cram it into one test, it is just atrocious. I feel like there really shouldn't be final exams because, don't we have enough high stake tests already. Theres the ACT, SAT, and all the school work to cope with. Now this is only for a junior to fret about, but still, it is too much on one plate. This one test is 15% of your grade, and most of the time its a grade breaker. In one class i am border line and have a 79.88 in math, if i get anything below an 80% i get C+. I realize this is just preparing us for college, but still, in college we only have like 3 grades in the semester besides that so really, its just a big test. In most of my classes there is just to much to go back and revisit. Unless we get specifics on the amount of work from a single unit, it is almost impossible to study for. I just feel like we don't need finals and it is not a real picture of our work from the semester.

Somber family reunion

Though many people thought it might be a brother v brother super bowl, it seems that once again the colts get knocked off in the last minute and bad eli shows up and ruins it for the Giants. It seems that fate just wont let these two play eachother. Though the Colts ended the season on a 9 game winning streak they once again blew it in the play offs. The Giants on the other hand, blew through the NFC only to lose 3 out of their last 4 and then lose to their division rival the eagles. I feel that it is kind of Ironic. Through out the years Peyton has always over shadowed the younger Eli because of his reimaginging of the quarterback position. But recently Eli has become more of threat and winning the superbowl sure helped his credibility. But these two aren't the only ones with family rivalries, what about the Baldwin brothers, or the Wilson's, even the Bush brothers have their rivalries. I think that this is whats so great about competition, it really brings out the best in people brothers or not.

A feat that will never be touched

In 1995-96 the bulls did something that no other team had ever done in the history of Basketball, they had won over 70 games in the regular season. They dominated almost every single game they played that season. It helped that they had on their team the greatest player who ever played in Michael Jordan. To accompany him they had the first ever point forward, Scottie Pippen, then they had one best rebounders of all time, Dennis Rodman. Now almost every year there is a team that everyone says will beat the record but they end up never coming close. This year for instance the Celtics started the year 27 and 3 but they went on a skid and now they are 29-9. To be as good as that bulls team, they must never go on a skid for any amount of time. That year the bulls went on one skid and it lasted a total of two games. There longest losing streak of the year. I don't know if any team will ever beat this feat. To do this the bulls averages 13 more points than their opponents and had one of the best all around teams of all time. In the category of greatest team ever, the bulls stand in a league of their own.

The fogotten kids

Many people talk about the grueling and strenuous life style of the president, but what people don't talk about is the lives that the children of the president are forced to take. Malia is ten years old while his other daughter, Sasha is only seven. They have to constantly worry that their father is under danger. They also have to worry that whereever they go, the press will follow them which means they can't have one foot out of line. They will also have the feeling of perpetual danger accompanied by the secret service every where they go. They will also be pressed to find friends who are "like them" becuase of the constant media watch. They are the youngest kids to ever be in the white house and now they have to go to a brand new school with people they have never met before. Also there dad will almost never be at the white house because of all the foreign problems that are occuring in the world. The fact is that they will never live a "normal" life style and because of that I feel sorry for them.

Here we go again; crisis in the middle east

In the past few weeks one of the smallest country in the world, has become the most typed word on the internet. This crises started because Hamas, the terrorist organization, has been lobbing bombs and rockets into Israel. Israel has always been known to have a bit of a hot head and there saying of an eye for an eye has been put to the extreme in this case. So far 800 palestinians, most civilians, have been kill while only 13 Israelis have been kill. The root of this fight goes back thousands of years to the respective countries holy books. According to the Torah, the city of Jerusalem and the land around it belong to the Israelis. But according to the Quran the land belongs to the islamic people. Because of these "promises" that they were given by God, they both believe that the land is rightfully theirs. Many Islamic people don't even recognize the state of Israel, and according to the president of Iran, he wants to "Push the country of Isreal into the sea." Now Isreal stands alone in the middle east. If it were not for the support of the USA, Israel would not have all the weapons it needs to protect their borders. They are so concerned with their safety that every single male and female after high school is required to serve in the military for 3 years.
Not only are the Israelis fighting against Hamas, but also agsint Iran who for years has supplied Hamas with training and weapons. On almost every border there is an enemy waiting. To the north there is Lebanon, a country who was at war with them in 2006 but now there is a truce. The terrorist organization in Lebanon is called Hezbollah and they also are supported by Iran. The only problem with the truce is Lebabon is seriously considering breaking this truce to aid Palestine. Then to the north east is Syria a country who has also supported Hamas and Hezbollah and is also being supplied by Iran. To the east is the west bank which is a palestinian controlled are and has many Hamas members. Then to the south east is the country of Jordan which is not openly opposed to Israel, but they would not help them in a conflict. Then to the south is Egypt which for years was at war with Israel. Finally to the south west is the Gaza Strip, which is partly controlled by Hamas and is now at war with Israel. The only sfe harbor Israel has is the sea. Many people think that these battles are just proxy wars between Israel and Iran. But the only problem is that Israel fights everyone of these battles while Iran just stays behind these other countries. I think that the root of this problem goes way deeper than any conflict we have ever had, and the only way that these countries will ever be at peace is if they compromise. At this time though, it seems very unlikely.

Its Bowling time

The bowl season, other than march madness, it is one of my favorite times of the year. The atmophere is just great because every team knows that this is a win lose situation and every team knows that after this, they dont have another chance for another year. Almost every game this season has be one to remember, from the TCU Boise state, to the Missouri Northwestern game, none have dissapointed. In my family we have a football pool where we pick 32 games and everyone puts in 5 dollars. From my 3 year old cousin to my 79 year old grandfather, they all put in a pool. The funny thing about it is that it is hardly ever the people who know alot about the sport that win the pool. It is the people like my sister who pick the games based off of where their friends go to school that are the people that win the pool. I for one have never won the pool but my younger sister has. Right now we are watching the game in my house and my sister is furious because she doesnt like The Ohio State University. This is because she is going to college at dension in Ohio and according to her, football is all they talk about. In my opinion that is not a bad place to live.

Roland out or in

Illinois is no longer known only as the land of Lincoln, it is now also the most corrupt state in the USA. Rob Blagojevich has recently been arrested for charges of "Pay for Play", or in simpler terms, he attempted to sell the senate seat for a price. He is Illinois's 4th governor in the past 50 years to be arrested. Now in shackles rob blagojevich has named a man for the senate seat that was until recently held by our future president. This man he has named is Roland Burris. He is an old chicago politician who has been a life time member of the democratic party. He was the attorney geneneral the state of Illinois. Blagojevich has really put the senate in a tough position because befor e the appointment, they said they would refuse to accept any person appointed by Blagojevich, but now since obama has left the senate there is no longer an African American in the senate. So now the senate must decide weather to let this man, appointed by a criminal, to serve in the senate, or to lock him out, and decline to have any diversity in the senate. I believe that this is one big publicity stunt set up by Blagojevich to take some of the press off him and maybe gain a few supporters back.