Cheney says torture report is "full of crap"

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Recently, Dick Cheney has gone public about his true feelings on the newly released "torture report." Earlier this week, Senate Democrats have published a report about the "enhanced" interrogations that were authorized during the Bush administration. Apparently, Cheney does not agree with the Democrats' findings, calling it "full of crap." Cheney states that the Democrats did not interview any CIA officials that were in office at the time and that the program was designed "to catch the bastards" and "that's exactly what they did."

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the whole report and enhanced interrogation. On one hand, it could be a useful tool for extracting information that could potentially save lives but on the other hand, it's morally wrong. So we face a dilemma. Should we follow our moral compasses and do the right thing, or should we do whatever is necessary to protect the country and its people?

"Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances. The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent's life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life. He refuses to divulge. In such a case, the choice is easy."~Charles Krauthammer

Canadian Family Attempts to Resurrect Husband.....For Six Months.....

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Recently, a Canadian family held onto the head of the family for six months and prayed for his resurrection daily. The only way authorities found the dead 52 year old man was after police came to the house to evict them for not making house payments. To prevent the smell from alerting neighbors, the family sealed the house. The deceased husband was a very religious man and his wife even more so. She was given a suspended sentence and told to go to counselling.

Well.... this story definitely got my attention. I get that losing a loved one is a very hard thing to go though, but I didn't think it would drive people to try and resurrect them six months after death. I mean, how would you even put up with a decomposing body in the place where you live? Why would you even want to resurrect a 6 month old zombie-like corpse?

Laura Ingraham calls to end birthright citizenship

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/17/laura_ingraham_wants_to_change_constitution_to_strip_immigrants_children_of_citizenship/

Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham has criticized the GOP on not taking a stronger stance on citizenship and immigration. She went even further and said on radio that she thinks that the 14th amendment's citizenship clause should be repealed in order to prevent illegal immigrants from illegally crossing into the U.S. and having children on American soil, thus automatically making them U.S. citizens.

Personally, I believe that the citizenship clause should be modified in order to deal with the illegal immigration in this country. I believe that only children of U.S. citizens should be granted citizenship, not just anyone who has a child in this country just so that they can live here. If people want to live in this country, they should go through the proper immigration process and then become naturalized.

Young Black Senators Make History

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/2014/11/05/black-senators-make-history/18481235/

After the Midterm elections, two black senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties have been elected. Since 1870, only 9 senators have served in the Senate and hopefully with the election of these two men that number will increase. Many also believe that the traditional Senate demographic of old white men will also begin to bend and that maybe a new trend will start.

I think that it is good to have minorities represented in the Senate so that they have their voices heard too. I think it is even better that one of the men is from the deep south because that might mean that racism is waning in the traditional racist hot spot. I also think that USA Today is making too big of a deal out of this too because, in the words of Morgan Freeman (God), "The only way to stop racism is to stop talking about it." (it went something like that I think).

South Dakota may be turning Democrat

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/16/356728087/in-south-dakota-a-three-way-senate-race-draws-national-attention

For many years, South Dakota has been strongly Republican, but in this year's elections, Democrat Rick Weiland is gaining support. And now a third candidate, Larry Pressler, is running as an independent, making it even harder for the other two candidates. As the fight for the Senate ensues, South Dakota is getting a lot of attention, because what happens in our state may have a drastic impact in the Senate and the future of the country.

Although I support Rounds, I think that it's good that there's more competition now because now more people have their voices heard and it looks more like a democracy rather than a single-party dictatorship.

$4 billion price tag for midterm elections

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/10/22/analysis-midterm-election-will-cost-nearly-4-billion/
Midterm elections this year are going to cost about $4 billion dollars, making this year the most expensive midterm ever. This expensive election means more annoying political TV ads, radio ads, phone calls, and more junk mail for everybody. The non-partisan center for Responsive Politics says that political groups are spending about $19.4 million dollars a day.

I think that $4 billion is a ridiculous amount of money used for campaigning. Political candidates should actually use that money to help people instead of just furthering their own interests. They should really make a law limiting the amount of money spent on campaigning.

Hitler was a meth head

Link: http://usat.ly/1xOrEQ9

Studies and historical reports say that hitler was on a cocktail of drugs, including crystal meth. Hitlers cocktail of drugs include meth, barbiturate tranquilizers, morphine, bull semen, and other drugs. According to the report, hitlers doctor was theodor morell, a "doctor" who was know for his odd treatments and was considered by many to be a quack. This means that hitler ruled the third riech and directed ww2 while high on drugs.

Personally, I think this explains a lot about what hitler did and I also believe that this is the reason that he made many terrible choices toward the end of the war in terms of military decisions. So I guess you could say that meth started ww2 and ended it.

Supreme Court Stops Voter ID Law

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/09/supreme-court-wisconsin-voter-id/16985963/

Recently, the Supreme Court has blocked a Wisconsin law that would have required voters to present government issued identification. Reasons given by the Court include that it would discriminate minorities like Blacks and Hispanics, the elderly, students, and people with disablilites. The Court also said that it would "create a mess at the polls." The state said that the reason for the law was to crack down on voter fraud and illegal voters.

I believe that it is dumb for the Supreme Court to strike this down. If people really wanted to vote, they should have to provide the proper ID. And discriminating against minorities? That is preposterous, minorities can get an ID just as easily as any white person. Although there were virtously no negatives about this law, the Courts still struck it down for no real good reason. This event has really made me lose faith in our court system.

Hong Kong Protesters turn back to flag during National Day

Today marks National Day in the People's Republic of China. As many of you know, there are thousands of people in Hong Kong demanding democratic reform in the semi-autonomous territory. The protests, led mainly by students, are almost entirely peaceful, as they have only been occupying places like streets and other public places. The Chinese government have said that these protests are illegal but they have yet to break them up, except for one instance when police used tear gas on a group of protesters. Today, during the flag raising, many of the protesters turned their backs to the flag and jeered. No one is certain how this will end, as neither the protesters or the government is showing signs of backing down.

Personally, I think that it is good and right for the people to protest against the tyranny that exists in China. Although I fully support the protesters, I also believe that it's risky for them to protest, especially when you look at what happened during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which ended with the deaths of between 240 and 1,000 protesters. Many of the protesters in Hong Kong may not even be aware of what happened in 1989, since the Chinese have censored all mentions of what happened back then.

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/10/01/hong-kong-pro-democracy-protests-china-national-day/16520315/

ISIL offshoot takes another Western life

In the article titled "Jihadist video claims beheading of French hostage", Frenchman Hervé Gourdel was reportedly beheaded in Algeria after the ISIL offshoot demanded a stop to French airstrikes in the Middle East. After the French president refused to back down, the terrorists released a video of Gourdel being beheaded. This, if the video is real (which I'm sure it is), will be the fourth time that terrorists have beheaded Western hostages and ISIL threatens to behead another man, a Brit by the name Alan Henning.

 Like many of us, I am sickened by the events happening in the Middle East. I think that France or the US could have done more to try and save the hostages instead of just sitting around until they are dead. If we could have done a rescue mission and successfully brought back at least some of the hostages, I believe that it would send ISIL a powerful message that we will do anything to protect American lives. Furthermore, I believe that we should step up airstrikes in the Middle East and even expand them to Northern Africa, since it seems that a lot of terrorists take refuge in the countries there. Although it would violate those nation's sovereignty, I believe that it would be totally worth it in the end and besides, we already are conducting airstrikes in Syria without their permission.

Article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/09/24/algeria-islamic-state-beheading-video-french-hostage/16149609/

Dishonest media

The article written in the Journal a few weeks ago was extremely disappointing and misrepresenting. When I first read the article, the quotes seemed out of character for our school and our class. Back at school, I learned the truth behind what had happened. The journalist quoted people out of context and only put comments in that fit her article. The journalist purposely smeared our school's image just to fit her thoughts and beliefs. This is truely disheartening for me because now I see that even our own local media twists facts and just to get attention.