On the bus today, I caught a peek of The Washington Post and on the front page was nothing else but a well written story about the November 19th ambush by United States marines after the killing of one of the lance corporals. I don't want to be the only one that does not know about the story so I am going to do as I always do and give you the link to the story online so you can read it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/26/AR2006052602069.html.

Before I go on any further, I have to continue to comment on the writing style of Ellen Knickmeyer who really puts it down in this article as she is the person that can provide me with a clear picture of what happens without me really being there. I read Samuel G.Freedman's book, Letters to a Young Journalist and he talks of hitting people's emotional buttons by just being really descriptive and paying attention to every detail. This is one good example of such a thing and I just want to thank Ms. Knickmeyer for introducing me to such a good example of good journalism.

Moving on...America's vengeful and dog eat dog nature continues to show through the actions of these marines. How can the president carry on his mission, if the marines cannot take anything seriously and continue to be in the news time after time for a new shenanigan. The first couple of instances where just some sort of weird twisted perverted manifestation of these sick marine Corp people when they took pictures of naked prisoners while they torture them. Now there's news of these "good" men carrying out their vengeance in the form of a raid on many innocent people. Twenty four were killed in all and by the end of the day there are no apologies and all that can show for the efforts of the officials to rectify the situation is just an "investigation".

I'm tired so I close this by just saying, America...GET OUT OF IRAQ ASAP. This war is about nothing serious anymore and in the eyes of other countries, we are bullies and nothing more. To me, politics on a worldly view is not at its best right now. The influence that we have as Americans continues to diminish a little everyday and eventually, our ideas of diplomacy and blah blah blah no longer are special. When my generation grows up, United States most probably will not be a world power and relations will never be good. Many are surprised at how I got all this from one incident but ladies and gentlemen, the fact of the matter is that it is quite that easy for stuff like this to happen and we have two choices. We can either accept what fate the US has been given and patiently wait for that to go down or try to rebuild some sort of democratic relationship with these countries and maintain our reputation in the best way possible starting with our stupid military. I think I like the second one much better.

Passing of Recent Immigration Bills in the Past and Present.

I was just reading The Washington Post online when I came across the story for the passing of legislation addressing the problem of illegal immigration. One thing that struck me in particular was the difference in the reform bills between the senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. For a summary of the bills please click on this link, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701201.html

Anyway, the thing that struck me the most was that for probably the first time, President Bush is in competition with many of the conservative republicans that normally support him, and all this over what to do about the illegal immigrants that live in our country. Obviously, the bill passed by the House in December was too hardcore for the president, because no where did it call for amnesty for the immigrants. Instead,it called for immediate deportation and a huge increase in penalties for helpers to the illegal immigrants.

Let's fast forward to the present and our president is working along with Democrats and moderate Republicans in the effort to give these illegal immigrants amnesty. The new bill passed just this week will do just that and to me it is a beautiful thing for two reasons:

1. It is in all fairness that immigrant that came over and made something of their lives by working hard will finally have a chance at citizenship and the immigrants that committed crimes during their stay are leaving.
2. There is some sort of unity between the parties when a republican president can come together with democrats and make something of their hard work .

I hope to see more come from this bill introduced by the senate can grow into something and as more news comes, there will be more said from me, the young political mind.

What I Think About The Da Vinci Code

Today, as I sat at the computer, I read an article in the Washington Post about the upcoming film The Da Vinci Code based on the book with the same name. People of Christian dominations across the world plan to boycott this movie and advise anyone else not to see it because of the messages that it sends. The movie stars Tom Hanks as a person that is looking into a secret organization that will go at anything to hide the "fact" that Jesus Christ had an affair with former prostitute Mary Magdelene and they in fact had offspring whose descendents may in fact still be alive today.

WOW!!! That was all that I could say when I heard that. To be totally honest, I never was interested in what The Da Vinci Code had to offer and the front cover really bored me and I thought the book would bore me as well. As a matter of fact, I think they make movies based on books for people like me who did not read the book in the first place. The speculation of who Jesus might have had sex with is something that would activate this young curious mind of mine. Please be aware that I am a faithful Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ was perfect as much as any other Christian would believe. Dan Brown's creative mind was something that got him some money for this book sold millions worldwide and in fact was in competition with the Harry Potter books for sometime.

Now that it is a movie, the protests have increased. A question that comes to my mind is where were these people when the book came out years earlier? Obviously, there should have been some reaction to what the book said. Despite the thoughts of these people, I think that it is good that there is room for thought in the world today. I'm a fan of movies where things go "boom" or where I laugh for several minutes at a time, but if I can think after that movie is finished, then I'm still satisfied. I think director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks both made good points when they said the movie was "fictional" and if these people did not want to see it then they should not. America is a free country and if these protestors are free to protest then the movie makers should be free to show their movies.

In a world where there are other things in entertainment to worry about (sex, violence,drug use,etc.), it is sad to see that the church is concerned with the image of our lord and savior than with trying to uphold his principles and the things he taught by way of compaigning the changing of other movies that prove more dentrimental to our society. Does God not favor thought and wisdom for it was wisdom that Solomon had when he found out who was the rightful mother of the baby in the palace. There are so many instances in the Bible where thoughts were endorsed and encouraged by God and his son. This is all a part of gaining wisdom and wisdom is something that many of the people in the religious community are not using at this moment. For if they had wisdom, then obviously they would know that giving attention to this movie by condemning it would bring people like me to the movie theaters.

The church should stop being so hard on things like this. It is obviously fictional and if it would make them happy, then a suggestion would be even putting that disclaimer in the opening credits of the movie. This is not a big issue and it would not even make the courts like that famous Scopes Monkey Trial. There are no fundamentalists around to jump on something like this; if there were, then we'd certainly be in trouble, LOL.

The Da Vinci Code
Rated PG-13
Starring Tom Hanks

Enjoy yourself watching this movie!

Sorry I haven't been posting blogs in a while...well to make it up to you, here's a new post courtesy of the young political mind.

Comments of President Bush's Recent Public Address About Immigration

Monday night, at 8:00 pm, President Bush addressed the nation in what was considered a rare broadcast concerning the issue of illegal immigration that has been a hot topic in the news lately. In this twenty minute presentation, there were important points which were made by the president as to what he would do about the situation along the United States/Mexico border and the issue of the employment of illegals by desperate employers. Suggestions made by the president included a deploy of the US National Guard to the border to help out the border patrol until new technology is implemented, a new version of identification for immigrants that would give employers precise information as to whether or not they are in good status to work, and what to do to with those illegal immigrants already in the country making a living.

First off, I just want to say congrats to George W. Bush for actually doing something right. From what I heard in this speech, this sounds like something that is feasible and there is no reason to me why it would be wrong. He addresses every facet of the current immigration issue. I like the fact that he still wants to keep the image of the great big melting pot in America, for it was this that got my parents and other relatives over here. He is going about this whole situation in a totally rational and strategic way that satisfies the law and at the same time can satisfy many Mexicans especially those that are already in the country hiding as illegals. Kudos to the president to making probably the first good decision of his whole tenure as our president. Though late, it is really good. The only thing that can ruin all of this for our head of state is how he goes about this, and right now that means the issue of legislation and most importantly the stretching of our supplies which are the mighty men and women of the national guard.

Inherit the Wind
Click on this AudioBlog!!!!!

The Walk to End Obesity

As I watched the news today, there came a report of an obese man walking long distances in his campaign to make the nation aware of the obesity problem that plagues a huge percentage of Americans. To see the most recent report on this phenomenon click on this link for the story.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003492599

Personally, I feel with this man and everything that he is trying to do. Since April 10, he has subjected his body to constant work and tonight we are going to celebrate his hard work when he crosses the GW Bridge to New York City. Certainly, if he can do this than more people should take a stand for their health and help themselves lose weight. His battle was emotional as well and yet he found a venue through which to get through all of this, and I commend him for the hard work he has done.

ANNOUNCEMENT,ANNOUNCEMENT, ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!
To all the blog readers...

Famed abolitionist Abraham J. Bonowitz invites all of you to ...

STARVIN ' FOR JUSTICE 2006
13th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court
June 29 - July 2, 2006
Read the who, what, when, where, why and how of this important annual abolitionist event by visiting http://www.abolition.org

Note the dates and do all you can to be out there with other abolitionists as they work towards the abolishment of the death penalty.

The Recent Events Occuring in Darfur and My Take On What Has Happened Within the Past Few Years :The Views of the Young Political Mind

Just recently, there was a call to a ceasefire in the war ravaged country in Darfur, a region of Sudan. Before, there was a history of violence and civil war involving two major racial groups in the country, the Africans and the Arabs. In a deal fostered by the United Nations, the rebel group led by the Africans and the Sudanese government agreed to stop firing so that the first steps towards a peaceful resolution can be made.

Before the problem can be solved, the question to ask right now is how this problem happened to come along in the first place. The problem lies deeper than the ethnic conflicts between the Arabs and Africans occupying country and one can go even as far as saying that the problem is a question of human nature. Throughout the history of Sudan, there is a corruptive nature of the government as seen with the British over this region and seen with the Arabs that abuse their power in the government. This is not the only example of this imperialistic system in Africa for many other countries in this continent experience the same kind of problems. People of that country are taught that survival cannot come at a state that ensures compromise and instead there is imbalance everyway the African turns. The success of the British Empire in their imperialistic system promised them wealth while their captors in their colonies suffered. Even after independence, the essence of colonization never left the country for the methods of “survival” are passed on to another minority, the Arabs who have no mercy on the African people. Again, there is imbalance in the distribution of goodwill for the Arabs have taken advantage of the power that just happened to be bestowed upon them in the first days of independence. This happens so that only Arabs are chosen as government officials and the African population continues to suffer at the hands of the oppressor.

The civil war in Sudan, to conclude all this, is nothing more than a revolution in the hands of the African population who are tired of being oppressed. First, they were oppressed by their British captors, and then they were oppressed by their Arab-ran government. Not to say this justifies their actions, but what else can a group of people do after trying to get past this issue the diplomatic way? Are we really past a period of colonization or are the remnants of this time still alive in the societies of nations of the world that are suffering, such as Darfur? The nation of Darfur today is trying to get past these civil wars but one problem at a time needs to be solved so that the vision of a truly diplomatic and post-colonial society can be formed.

Just Something to Think About...

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and The New Yorker

Reading a recent issue of The New Yorker given to me the other day, I came across an article about the one and only President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She is the newly elected president of my parent's country of origin, Liberia and is also the first female democratically elected president in the continent of Africa. What amazing feats!!!!

Basically, the reason why I loved this article so much was because of the signs of promise that this women show in the time that this struggling country needs her the most. After years of war and dictatorship in the hands of Charles Taylor, this fresh face offers many people something that they have not seen in a long time and that is promise. With a lengthy history behind her and the support of the Liberian people, it looks like this woman could not lose. As I think about the article itself and the things that Sirleaf said, the thing that stuck out the most was ...

"If there is anybody whocan bring change, it's someone whse life eperience represents all the good an the bad."

She is indeed the 21st century Nelson Mandela and it is her good history as well as her struggles in trying to bring down the abusive government that makes everything good and I for one hope that she can do all that she can by first bringing Charles Taylor back to Liberia for trial and then focusing her attention on fixing this country so that one day I may go over there and enjoy myself and meet my family who has been anticipating my arrival for some time now.

A new day,

Just the other day, my friends and I were talking about the issue of slavery and reparations. The question on the mind of the group (three African-Americans, and one hispanic) was whether or not reparations would be the ultimate solution for 400 year history of this peculiar institution. Well, the fact was that we could never reach to a concensus of the issue and the fact is neither could many African Americans either now-a-days. With the possibility of Mexicans recieving their reparation money from the US government(http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-04-1930s-deportees-cover_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA), the issue becomes more heated. This will be something that will continued to be discussed for a minute and frankly the opinion of others is really appreciated.

Should Moussaui Receive the Death Penalty? http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/us/03moussaoui.html

Moussaui is the name of the man who claims responsibility behind the treacherous September 11th attacks and it is him who is in the hot seat right now as he is the first person to be tried for crimes directly connected to this horrific day in American history. The jury selected has found him guilty. With sentencing deliberations in its 7th day, the question on the mind of the jury is whether or not this man should receive the death penalty for the things that he has done?

With the emotions floating around this issue, especially coming from family members of the 9/11 victims, the answer most certainly would be "Yes, kill that terrorist immediately!!" Most people would agree with this, but I am not most people. With the death penalty implemented on this person, the chance for rehabilitation is no more. What is the purpose of prison? Certainly it serves the purpose of punishment. There have been many cases throughout history where former inmates have gone back into society feeling guilt for their crimes and trying to change their ways by being all that they can be. Why should that not be the same for this person named Moussaui? Should he not be able to spend life in jail and think about what he has done and then die of natural causes to be judged before God on that given day? Why should the United States judicial system play God and kill that man?

I know many people would not agree with what I am saying, but to wrap up this post, I want to say that the death penalty has shown up time and time again in history and has been frowned upon. Just because the death penalty is possibly going to be implemented on a terrorist does not make it right all of a sudden and that is what the case is totally. Despite what Moussaui did, he is still human and humans should try to help other humans. He should have his chance to rehabilitate in prison so that he can help other inmates and become an asset to our society and not another hole in the ground.