I read the article, “Gay Couples Have the Right to be as miserable as Everyone Else!” and I completely agree with it. This is some not something that government should be involved in. People have the right to be with who ever they want to, same sex or not; that’s their decision. The problem isn’t that it implies to immorality, it’s about government declaring that it is unacceptable and taking the civil liberties granted to the American citizens away. Government can't tell an adult who they can marry. If this is something that they can decide for American citizens than it is not a country of freedom and liberty. It will soon be a country run by dictators. They will dictate who we can live with, who we can talk to, who we can sleep with, etc!
Gay couples should have the be granted the right like every couple in the country. The right to be free to be with one another , to hold the same civil liberties granted to hetersexual mariages, and to be legally certified in the United States. The only time we need the government to get involve is when the couple is violating someone's rights or hurting some one else. Marriage is something that is between two people, they are not effecting anyone else but themselves, nevertheless, it's their choice to be and live freely.
Government can't measure politically emotional attachments in heterosexual or homosexual marriages much less can they mend it, so they should stay in the politcal zone design just for them to act on. They need to stay out of it and focus on the real, BIGGER problems that's happening right now like INFLATION and WAR!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
TORTURE IN THE U.S!!!
There has been some kind of disturbance with the Americans ever since the American soldiers and intelligent agents were torturing prisoners. After reading the article, “The Torture Sessions” I contemplate how far the decisions will go beyond the United States laws and International Treaties to approve this behavior?
The Torture Sessions
President Bush once again with no piece of his mind supported this issue along with the very highest officials in the office not only approve the abuse of prisoners ,but also they participate to develop a legal structure to shield from justice for those who follow orders. ABC news and the associated press said that all of the President’s top national security advisors like VP Dick Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld. Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell- participates in developing the interrogation policy. It has seems like all along that these officials did not have the time to plan for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq or to complete the hunt for Osama bin Laden but they do have multiples of meetings to organize a legal structure to prisoner abuse. Will this help us collect adequate information from the prisoners? The answer would be not very much from them because anything can be “confessed” ( truce or not) when you’re minutes away from getting electrified. Therefore, we should make friends not enemies. Torturing anyone will only make the U.S look bad because a civilized nation should not stoop that low to the kind of violence in search of sufficient information. Furthermore, the amount of time and energy devoted to this stealthy practice at the highest levels of the government ever under Bush’s administration remind us “the ways Mr. Bush and his team undermined, subverted and broke the law in the name of saving the American way of life.” Mr. Powell, a career Army officer who should know that torture has little value as an interrogation method and put the Americans at greater risk.
I think “an eye for an eye” still has its meanings under this behavior. Likewise for the Americans, the government is creating a legal structure to shield any justice so this can means that somewhere down the road it will be okay for government to torture American Prisoners, Americans that don’t pay their taxes and fines etc! Will it REALLY be okay?
The Torture Sessions
President Bush once again with no piece of his mind supported this issue along with the very highest officials in the office not only approve the abuse of prisoners ,but also they participate to develop a legal structure to shield from justice for those who follow orders. ABC news and the associated press said that all of the President’s top national security advisors like VP Dick Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld. Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell- participates in developing the interrogation policy. It has seems like all along that these officials did not have the time to plan for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq or to complete the hunt for Osama bin Laden but they do have multiples of meetings to organize a legal structure to prisoner abuse. Will this help us collect adequate information from the prisoners? The answer would be not very much from them because anything can be “confessed” ( truce or not) when you’re minutes away from getting electrified. Therefore, we should make friends not enemies. Torturing anyone will only make the U.S look bad because a civilized nation should not stoop that low to the kind of violence in search of sufficient information. Furthermore, the amount of time and energy devoted to this stealthy practice at the highest levels of the government ever under Bush’s administration remind us “the ways Mr. Bush and his team undermined, subverted and broke the law in the name of saving the American way of life.” Mr. Powell, a career Army officer who should know that torture has little value as an interrogation method and put the Americans at greater risk.
I think “an eye for an eye” still has its meanings under this behavior. Likewise for the Americans, the government is creating a legal structure to shield any justice so this can means that somewhere down the road it will be okay for government to torture American Prisoners, Americans that don’t pay their taxes and fines etc! Will it REALLY be okay?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Commentary Blog6
I agree with this author that the media has a way of manipulating its viewers to think about what they are trying to present. The war in Iraq is one of the many issues that are skewed from reality. What was the war about? Was it about oil or keeping the world terrorist-free? The average American probably doesn’t even know what the war six years ago is really about. What progress has it made since 2002? It has made “very little” growth. Where has all of our tax dollars gone to? It probably went into the smokes. Without any hesitation, we keep sending and drafting soldiers to Iraq for an unclear purpose. If it is only for a percentage to deploy so their numbers are good then it is not worth the lives we’ve lost in the number of years. Once in a while, the media shows the soldiers holding guns shooting at their opponent but for what? The answer still remains vague. They zoom in the US soldier’s closeness to death in the violent zone of war but yet what are the reasons for it? The media never present to us the true meaning of this war or the true reasoning for it. They don’t answer to the confusion why the soldier’s are in Iraq instead they ignore it so the war can be perceived differently.
The government borrowed so much money to give way into this war. I agree since the government’s deficit is outrageously increasing why not use that money for our benefit for once in a long time like building better refineries so that gas prices won’t go sky high. The government needs to look back to its own range for a little organizing and stop mindlessly going out their way to help other countries. We’ve loss numerous lives from hurricane Katrina because the government did not make a huge effort in the beginning to prevent it from happening yet; they sent soldiers to Iraq in a blink of an eye. Katrina and Iraq remain unsolved. Rumors got pass down saying that our country is led by brainless pigs maybe from what we’ve seen lately ; it is possibily true. It is no doubt that all that government needs to do is to create more issues so they can remain hazy and unresolved. The media presents reality in a manner just how the government wants it to be presented to the mass public.
http://realstarsandstripes.blogspot.com/
The government borrowed so much money to give way into this war. I agree since the government’s deficit is outrageously increasing why not use that money for our benefit for once in a long time like building better refineries so that gas prices won’t go sky high. The government needs to look back to its own range for a little organizing and stop mindlessly going out their way to help other countries. We’ve loss numerous lives from hurricane Katrina because the government did not make a huge effort in the beginning to prevent it from happening yet; they sent soldiers to Iraq in a blink of an eye. Katrina and Iraq remain unsolved. Rumors got pass down saying that our country is led by brainless pigs maybe from what we’ve seen lately ; it is possibily true. It is no doubt that all that government needs to do is to create more issues so they can remain hazy and unresolved. The media presents reality in a manner just how the government wants it to be presented to the mass public.
http://realstarsandstripes.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Parks in Hazards
The country’s open space containing wildlife and plants are probably not more immune to air pollution from power plants than it is in big cities. Congress in 1977 amended the Clean Air Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to make an effort to clean air in national parks and other places that holds a historical value in hope to leave behind for the next generations. Since then, no administration including Bush’s has paid any attention to this ratification. Although we are having some critical and uprising issues in the US, the government can’t disregard the pollution of wilderness areas and historical parks. Government should continuously protect and assure a pollution-free national park.
Two weeks ago, the anti regulatory brigade in the Office of Management and Budget killed ozone standards that offers strong protections for plants, trees, crops and wildlife. Despite the protests from its own regional offices and the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency nearly approve for regulations that would make it easier to build coal-fired plants near parks and wilderness areas without installing pollution control plants. Protecting and improving national parks was President Bush’s environmental promises in the 2000 campaign. He pledged to control greenhouse gas emissions but he abandoned Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The White House weakened a proposed rule that would reduced the airborne particulates that ruin the scenic views in many parks. As a result one of the three national parks suffers from one or another form of air pollution including the Yosemite. Bush only speaks out promises but no actions have taken out far enough to change anything.
The air in these parks will only get worse if the administration proceeds with its latest rules opening the way for more downwind power plants. Sulfur dioxide will continue to cause acid rain and kill trees. Mercury emissions poison streams. Nitrogen oxides and sulfates will continue to create smog and haze. Eventually it will not only affect the trees, streams, animals but we will see the deepening effects of pollution to human beings. We need a leader to lead us to a solution for the better of life of animals, plants, and human beings if we want to look forward to a next generation.
Two weeks ago, the anti regulatory brigade in the Office of Management and Budget killed ozone standards that offers strong protections for plants, trees, crops and wildlife. Despite the protests from its own regional offices and the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency nearly approve for regulations that would make it easier to build coal-fired plants near parks and wilderness areas without installing pollution control plants. Protecting and improving national parks was President Bush’s environmental promises in the 2000 campaign. He pledged to control greenhouse gas emissions but he abandoned Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The White House weakened a proposed rule that would reduced the airborne particulates that ruin the scenic views in many parks. As a result one of the three national parks suffers from one or another form of air pollution including the Yosemite. Bush only speaks out promises but no actions have taken out far enough to change anything.
The air in these parks will only get worse if the administration proceeds with its latest rules opening the way for more downwind power plants. Sulfur dioxide will continue to cause acid rain and kill trees. Mercury emissions poison streams. Nitrogen oxides and sulfates will continue to create smog and haze. Eventually it will not only affect the trees, streams, animals but we will see the deepening effects of pollution to human beings. We need a leader to lead us to a solution for the better of life of animals, plants, and human beings if we want to look forward to a next generation.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Border Insecurity?
Based on the commentary editorial from New York Times, “Border Insecurity” the nation is so confused and conflicted by the uprising of immigration concerns. From San Diego on the Pacific to Brownsville on the Rio Grande, a division constructed as a steel curtain is descending across the continent to keep out illegal immigrants. This nation used to be a “confident global magnet” that embraces the flow of immigrant workers and U.S citizens to be. Now we no longer want to nurture it but instead we are stooping ourselves down on the idea.
The Department of Homeland Security has been reinforcing an ineffective system consisting of fencing and sensors, trucks and boots on the ground. Where there is a lot of desert and mountains in border areas like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, we are investing billions of dollars for a fence. In my opinion, we are spending billions to build a "real" fence but nevertheless, from the beginning did we spend enough to build real dams or levies in New Orleans to keep hurricanes like Katrina from entering. No amount of fencing will deter illegal crossers because this will only motivate and give way to other illegal activities. Border-town officials insist that to build the fence we would have to build new roads that will connect to the old ones. These will be something useful for smugglers to pass illegal drugs to the neighboring states.
In Texas, the fence is a “dotted line”, blocking some places but not the others. Since that it cuts through the University of Texas at Brownsville and blocks the migration of wildlife, we no longer hold the principle of conserving nature preservatives.
Like any legal immigrants while crossing deserts and mountains, they are sweating and riven to find the American dream and stray away from poverty. Their show of hardship in this country through the economic eye should give us a passion to find an effective system to help them not push them away. I agree with this article that we need to find a way to supply visas and give immigrants the legal entrance to the U.S rather than “chasing them across the desert” with guns. The Border Patrol should have the technology and resources to catch drug smugglers and other criminals.
The strong government that we said we have isn't so brilliant because this system they put down shows the inability/incapability of what government can do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/opinion/04tue1.html?ref=opinion
The Department of Homeland Security has been reinforcing an ineffective system consisting of fencing and sensors, trucks and boots on the ground. Where there is a lot of desert and mountains in border areas like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, we are investing billions of dollars for a fence. In my opinion, we are spending billions to build a "real" fence but nevertheless, from the beginning did we spend enough to build real dams or levies in New Orleans to keep hurricanes like Katrina from entering. No amount of fencing will deter illegal crossers because this will only motivate and give way to other illegal activities. Border-town officials insist that to build the fence we would have to build new roads that will connect to the old ones. These will be something useful for smugglers to pass illegal drugs to the neighboring states.
In Texas, the fence is a “dotted line”, blocking some places but not the others. Since that it cuts through the University of Texas at Brownsville and blocks the migration of wildlife, we no longer hold the principle of conserving nature preservatives.
Like any legal immigrants while crossing deserts and mountains, they are sweating and riven to find the American dream and stray away from poverty. Their show of hardship in this country through the economic eye should give us a passion to find an effective system to help them not push them away. I agree with this article that we need to find a way to supply visas and give immigrants the legal entrance to the U.S rather than “chasing them across the desert” with guns. The Border Patrol should have the technology and resources to catch drug smugglers and other criminals.
The strong government that we said we have isn't so brilliant because this system they put down shows the inability/incapability of what government can do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/opinion/04tue1.html?ref=opinion
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Somebody's WATCHING me
I came across this commentary article, “I always feel like somebody’s watching me” by Leonard Pitts and shortly after, I have chills down my spine. In this article he is convinced that the advancement of technologies has driven America to a place of secret free and that we are moving towards a full surveillance society. With technology, he said that “in the beginning was the fingerprint” and now in the 20th century scientists uses DNA as a means of identification in place of a simple fingerprint.
The feds are building databases and some Americans like me are getting worried. CNN and The Associated Press recently reported that the FBI will award $1 billion, 10 year contract for the creation of an electronic file that can store fingerprints, DNA and interestingly, physical characters. Physical characters including but not limited to eye scans, facial shape, scars, TATTOOS etc. He said, “Government will also have on file the shape of your iris, the scar from childhood appendectomy, and the butterfly tattoo on your inner thigh.” I agree that this is a movement for a surveillance society because of the massive storage of our personal information being held by the government.
Nowadays, there is a camera on almost every corner to monitor closely our actions. Eventually they will be able to track us anywhere we go, anytime of the day and our daily activities will be noted on file. Will we have the word privacy at all? The answer is “probably not”. With the advancement in technology, we won’t even know that everything we do is being recorded and that our privacy has been violated. How can we be definite that our information will not leak out to others? We are told VERBALLY or by writing that it is confidential and is used only to pull out the criminals in society but is it really and fully protected from the underlying scams/scandals of government? Sure, it’s an absolute comfort to everyone that we have the most updated technology to ferret out the criminals but for whatever else reasons behind it, it’s costing our right to be left alone. It will not be a long time that when it comes to government, nothing you do will be a secrete.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-pitts_17edi.ART.State.Edition1.458b79f.html
The feds are building databases and some Americans like me are getting worried. CNN and The Associated Press recently reported that the FBI will award $1 billion, 10 year contract for the creation of an electronic file that can store fingerprints, DNA and interestingly, physical characters. Physical characters including but not limited to eye scans, facial shape, scars, TATTOOS etc. He said, “Government will also have on file the shape of your iris, the scar from childhood appendectomy, and the butterfly tattoo on your inner thigh.” I agree that this is a movement for a surveillance society because of the massive storage of our personal information being held by the government.
Nowadays, there is a camera on almost every corner to monitor closely our actions. Eventually they will be able to track us anywhere we go, anytime of the day and our daily activities will be noted on file. Will we have the word privacy at all? The answer is “probably not”. With the advancement in technology, we won’t even know that everything we do is being recorded and that our privacy has been violated. How can we be definite that our information will not leak out to others? We are told VERBALLY or by writing that it is confidential and is used only to pull out the criminals in society but is it really and fully protected from the underlying scams/scandals of government? Sure, it’s an absolute comfort to everyone that we have the most updated technology to ferret out the criminals but for whatever else reasons behind it, it’s costing our right to be left alone. It will not be a long time that when it comes to government, nothing you do will be a secrete.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-pitts_17edi.ART.State.Edition1.458b79f.html
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Economy Fitful
Today, I percieved an article, " Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go" in the New York Times newspaper. There is certainly no doubt that the United States is spurring into a recession. In the 1950s and 1960s credit cards were very popular. It acted as quick money that came in handy when ever they needed it. People went out to buy new furniture, appliances for their house, and began dinning out when they wanted to rather than yearning for their payday. By the 1980s, in addition to their income, millions of people started to invest thier money in the stock market hoping for the market to go sky high so they can take home a loaf sum of money. However, the free spending days from use of credit cards are slowly shifting off. With the number of jobs the United States lost, the housing prices depreciating and the excessive increase in debt, people are spending with limitations within their household income. Therefore, the will from Americans to save has sloped down slightly to the negative, suggesting that the Americans are spending more than their disposable income. 34 Million households took their homes over the last four years by refinancing and borrowing against their equity. Meaning that they were borrowing heavily against their assets to finance their day to day life. Currently, more Amerians are heading towards discounter stores like Walmart, T.J max, Target, etc. who are thriving in business and brand name stores are decreasing in consumer spending. Not many Americans have the choice to choose to save money or invest in the stock market. Credit cards no longer satisfy people's urges to get what they desire when they want, because what the American can not afford, they can not buy. Sadly, Americans are facing limitations within their economy.
I think this article is interesting because it gives you a comparison of the percentages on how many Americans took advantage of the " pay later" ideal in the 1900s and 20th century and how it is haunting them now. This article will help the American's decision to vote for the future President. It allows us to focus on his/her promises and proposals, and hopefully it will be carried out to get the United States out this recession.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/business/05spend.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
I think this article is interesting because it gives you a comparison of the percentages on how many Americans took advantage of the " pay later" ideal in the 1900s and 20th century and how it is haunting them now. This article will help the American's decision to vote for the future President. It allows us to focus on his/her promises and proposals, and hopefully it will be carried out to get the United States out this recession.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/business/05spend.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
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