Does anyone know about this? Help the Hikers!

Ten Months ago three American hikers Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal accidentally crossed the the mountainous border from Kurdistan into Iran; this past July. Upon crossing the border, which the Americans said was by accident, the Iranian police took them into custody. They have been detained in an Iranian prison for over ten months now. Two of the Americans Shane and Sarah had been studying Arabic and teaching English when they decided to do some hiking in northern Iraq. No none told them however, that this beautiful mountain kingdom in Kurdistan was only 5 miles from the Iranian border, and there was no markings or border control. Upon being taken into custody they were blindfolded and interrogated harshly being suspected as American foreign agents. They were kept in serious isolation for the first few months, but this isolation lessened as time went on. According to sources two of them are now suffering from physical ailments and they are obviously suffering from some pshycological damage at this point. Why have these hikers not gotten the attention they deserve? In other cases when more wealthy and better connected Americans have been taken hostage in North Korea or Iran, it is serious news. Yet for these three people have criticised them calling them "morons" for walking in a war zone. Personally, I applaud their adventurous spirit as it is of the utmost importance that people in Kurdistan and those living in the other parts of them Middle East get exposure to what worldly Americans are like. These hikers are helping to breakdown stereotypes about Americans and are showing that they aren't afraid of meeting people of different cultures. Kurdistan is the safest place in Iraq for Westerners, and it was not their fault they crossed the border into Iran. I imagine it would be hard to be sure where your going in that type of mountainous enviorement. We need the media to pay more attention to these hikers who are being held against their will!

Sarah Palin is Not a Femnist. You betcha!!

So Palin has decided to jump into the and as usually she has some great political insights."It is time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say 'We're all Arizonans now and, in clear unity, we say Mr. President, do your job secure our border" Palin

It is clear Sarah Palin has taking on a role of political leadership in the United States. Many listen to her and what she has to say, whatever that might be.Is Palin someone we want to be a leading female political voice?

Her 2009 novel Going Rogue became a national best seller. She appears at many rally's, commentates on television and is potentially going to run for office in the national sphere. What makes her qualified? When John McCain choose her as the Vice Presidential candidate subsequently throwing her into the national political arena did he really know who she was or what she stood for? As her popularity is growing with Americans, especially those dedicated to the Tea Party movement. Is Sarah Palin really a voice worthy of speaking for American and more importantly is she a good representation of women in politics?

We all know the awkward rhetoric rambling Palin that ran with McCain in 2008. We saw her family, her pregnant teenage daughter, her Christain values, etc...


Sarah Palin is not going to be good for American Women. Here are just four reasons why I think so. Women have been discriminated against for a long time in American society and Sarah Palin does not really help the matter.

1. She has supported abstinence only sex education programs in saying in the 2006 gubernatorial race "Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."
Abstinence worked out really well for her daughter.

2. She is against a woman's right to choose. She once said " I'd oppose rape even if my own daughter was raped." She would make the choice for her own daughter despite the fact she was brutalized.

3. She is not an advocate for women who are victims of assault. In fact she made
women in Wasilla pay for their own rape kits!




Palin said when she was resigning from being Governor of Alaska "Life is about choices!" Women and Men can make a choice and stop giving her any credence in the political sphere. Women have struggled to advance in politics, Olympia Snow, Hillary Clinton, Condeleza Rice, Susan Collins, Nancy Pelosi or Madeline Albright to name a few but women like Sarah Palin will do more damage for American women in politics than the a 100 Snow's or Albrights. Bottom line Sarah Palin is not good for American Women.

Top senators introduce comprehensive energy bill

On Wensday Senator Lieberman and Senator Kerry introduced a new bill aimed at bettering the environment and pursuit of renewable energy. The bill is aimed at cutting American greenhouse emissions by half and helping reduce Amercian foregin energy dependence for oil. This bill is looking promising with the support of President Obama and many well known memebers guiding into the senate.
Senator majority leader Reid opposed the bill because he would like to see the issue of immigration to be top priority.This statement caused some senators to back out of drafting proposal, most notable is Senator Graham of Soth Carolina. Supporters of the bill that any more postponment of making renewable energy a priority will result in the U.S loosing out in the competitive renewable energy market and will keep sending more and more money overseas.
The Bill also calls for more clean coal and nuclear energy. Senator Kerry says the bill would give consumers back two-thirds of the proposal's revenue that isn't dedicated to deficit reduction. The bill is aimed at pointing America in the rite direction by giving incentives to coal companies to clean it up and other industries so that we can maintain a low carbon system.Obama say th bill wil prodoce job defecit and help us compete more in the global economy.The bil leads the way for other countries to see how we need to reduce harmful emmisions because our climate is changing and some of these changes are really extreme like the melting of the ice caps.
This bill in my eyes is awesome. I am a strong believer in alternative energy because there is only so much oil in the world and we are consuming so much of it fastly. Our air is becoming polluting along with water sources. Things need to be done or over the next one hundred years our planet is not going to be sustainable to our population because we destroyed our environment,used up the oil, polluted the air to the point that it is heating up the earth and causing major climate change.We need to lead the way in demonstrating more concern for the environment and I hope this is the first step in many more to come so we can make the world cleaner and sustainable

Arizona bans ethnic studies in public schools

Another stunning step in Arizona's crackdown on immigration and ethnic tensions. Lawmakers recently made it illegal for public schools to teach classes that promote resentment of an ethnic group. This law aims to end classes designed for a particular ethnic group and classes that advocate for overthrow of the US government or resentment of a race. The bill was proposed primarily to end a Mexican-American studies class that teaches Mexican students they are an oppressed minority.
This decision comes on the heels of Arizona's recent immigration law. In that legislation police are instructed to question the citizenship of people who are likely to be illegal immigrants. Realistically, who's most likely to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona? That law has drawn widespread, international criticism. It's led to a boycott of contracts with Arizona-based companies and a potential supreme court challenge. Arizona has reacted to its problems in a way many other people simply don't agree with.
I happen to be one of those people. I understand the sentiment behind this new bill. Nobody wants a violent, ethnicity-based revolution in this country. But in reality what damage could this class do? We're supposed to produce critically-thinking, well-rounded students. The Arizaona bill aims to end ethnic tension and limit insurrection in this country, but what's the real threat in that? It comes not from ethnic hostilities but economic, religious, and social fractures.
Where does this restriction end? Are women not an oppressed class historically? What about teachers who want to explore the Communist Manifesto? It advocates violent revolution, but defined the world for half a century. I'm troubled by Arizona's increasing willingness to trample precedents of tolerance and liberalization in the name of state security and legal immigration. The spirit of Arizona's actions can be dfended, but not their manifestation or the rationale used to permit it.

Senate OKs 'too big to fail' bank amendment

I was very pleased when I read this article. With many months gone by since the big government bailout I was happy to see some new measures put into effect with all the talk and no action. On Wednesday may 5 the senate voted 93-5 approving a bipartisan deal to unwind big financial firms that are considered too big to fail. This deal drops a tax on banks that would have funded fifty billion dollars that regulators could have picked into to aid failing banks. The new plan calls for banks to be taxed so they pay for banks after a collapse and not the taxpayers.

This makes me happy because that was my biggest concern. I wanted the banks and big corporations to pay not the middle class man. An amendment that I am particularly fond of was also purposed by Senator Shelby which would impose stricter rules already in place to keep managers and bank directors who have a history of recklessness from obtaining future jobs in the financial sector. This shows me that we are also trying to prevent another collapse instead of just putting a band aid over it.
Republicans had a couple concerns such as that the democrats have given regulators to much discretion in paying back creditors. Another republican concern was that the bill did not do a sufficient job in reining in the emergency lending powers that both the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit of Insurance Corp. have to prop up banks in trouble.

There are talks of trying to tighten up some of the language in the bill and maybe amend a few things but I believe this is a giant a giant step in the right direction from what the market has been thru. Republicans and democrats will always differ but at least bill’s are being passed and something is being done instead of arguing. I am pleased and I think there is much more good to be done to clean up the mess.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/05/news/economy/Senate_Wall_Street_Reform/index.htm

Obama debates offshore drilling

Just one month after officially announcing plans to use offshore drilling for domestic oil production, Obama has made a visit to the gulf coast to examine the damage that the a recent oil spill caused. Last week BP PLC a major oil provider had a spill off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico that has already caused billions and damage and the bill is growing. Obama said in a speech at ground zero of the spill that his plans for offshore drilling will be put on hold pending a report of what caused the spill and if there was any way to prevent it. This is coming due to large pressure from activists and legislatures alike. Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida said that he would file legislation that would put a hold on any measures put forward by the administration to halt their plans for offshore drilling including any seismic testing. This is a major blow to the administration’s plans who last month although acknowledging the need for new types of renewable homegrown energy also said it is essential to build up traditional forms of energy in order to keep the economy growing. “"The bottom line is this: Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.” I agree that a full report of the oil spill and what could have been don’t to prevent it is essential, we also need to continue our research into offshore drilling. Just because BP PLC was careless in the way they transported their oil doesn’t mean we have to stop something that will be a major blow to the economy. I believe we need to cut our foreign dependence on oil and find our own ways into creating renewable energy. Finding a way to provide homegrown renewable energy isn’t something that can be done quickly and we need traditional energy sources at this time to eventually get to our goal of going green. Once the report is submitted to Obama by Ken Salazar at the end of this month and it confirms that BP PLC was careless and its not something that oil companies as a whole are doing wrong I think our research into offshore drilling should continue so that eventually we can become a nation that is not dependent on foreign oil because if certain countries have this power over us they can use it to whatever advantage they deem necessary. Which could be a major problem for the United States and its people and could throw the economy into an even bigger pickle then it already is.


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/03/oil-spill-could-sap-appetite-for-obamas-offshore-drilling-plans/?iref=allsearch&fbid=s1UVAA22EsE