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.

photo finish decided only by...a mile

All analysts are saying about this presidential race is how close it is going to be and how its coming down to the wire. But in my opinion it is not going to be that close. Over these past 3 months the gap has stedily gotten bigger and bigger. It seems now that the only chance McCain has is to win 9 out of 9 battle ground states. I am not saying that this is going to be a blow out, but I just think that they are only calling this a horse race only for ratings. Many people will pay no attention to any type of polical banter unless it is a tight race. And because the 2000 race in Florida, everyone believes that the election will come down to their vote. I believe that while this is an important part to getting people to vote, it is also decieving people and should not be done so straight forwardly. Telling people that anything could happen on election day is one thing, but saying that it will come down to one vote are two completely different things. What the media needs to realise is that ratings is not everything ,and while they might get more viewers because of it, lying to the public can really come back to bite. I know the race is not yet over but the way it looks right now, there will be a seperation of about 100 electoral votes, something that hasn't happened in a while. I am a John McCain and right now i am hanging on to a thread praying for victory.

Home-made is just not what it used to be

Over the years, propaganda has won the elections, and this year does not seem to be much different. Both candidates fire shot after shot at each other, everything is fair game. They have so much money in their campaigns, they can pretty much buy as much as they want. But instead of buying the fancy sign. They get people to make signs that they feel are appropriate for the rally. My sister attended McCain's recent rally on Sunday and there, she was given a sign that was hand written and looked like she had made it. What the campaigns are trying to do is feel more at one with the people. When people are seen with a hand written, hand colored poster it makes it seem like he is very popular. It seems like a sporting event, people come with signs to show support for their favorite person or team. But McCain is not the only one guilt of this, wherever you go, any campaign does this. They try and make it seem like a grass roots campaign where the regular person shows up to show support. My sister has also seen Joe Biden speak, ( she lives in Ohio) and he also give a "hand made" poster for her too. The fact is that campaigns are grasping a straws trying to make them seem more likable. In my opinion this only make the campaigns more desperate.

Maybe 101 our lucky number

Once again the cubs never cease to amaze me. They play 162 games and finish with the best record in the NL, then they make it to the playoffs and wet themselves. They got swept, by the LA Dodgers. It is not the fact that the Dodgers are not good, they played great, it is just that we are better than them, and we just did not show it.

Our best players all hit under .200, accept for Derrek Lee. Alfonso Soriano went an abysmal 1-14 and struck out for the last out of the game. Dempster threw 7 walks in 4 innings and we gave up 20 runs, to our petite 5. We did not even show up to the playoffs. We might as well of just thrown beachballs and hit with toothpicks. It is just depressing to talk about.

We have now lost 9 straight playoff games including the fateful Bartman game; which I attended. Many blame these losses on the Billy goat, and others on Bartman, but you can't blame a game solely on Witchcraft or bad placement. What most people forget is that Alex Gonzalez booted the next hit ball that would of surely ended the inning. And that the Billy goat and his owner are dead so the so called curse should die with them. Watch this video for a more in depth history of the Billy Goat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpoEZi_6G-g

The point I am trying to make is that we cub fans pride ourselves in the fact that there is always next year. But what if the year we wait for never comes? My grandmother who is 80 years old has been a cub fan all her life and has not once ever seen them win a World Series. My dad of 48, who knows the Cubs and baseball in general like the back of his hand, says that the team this year was the best he has ever seen. Even better than the 1969 cubs, who famously blew a 7 game lead with only 25 games left.

Maybe next year will be our year, but for right now I will just mourn, what feels like a death, the cubs and their terrible, terrible, post season performance.