Photographs of Terrorist Abuse

Appeals court ordered to revisit decision to release detainee photos

The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the photos and the Bush administration declined. The ACLU's perserverance is now prevailing. President Obama first agreed to release them, but he was strongly discouraged from doing so. Therefore, he signed the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, which gave the Department of Defense the right to withhold the photos that show terrorists being tortured. The battle is now going to court.

There are two sides to this issue. Both sides have legitmate claims. The government is trying to protect the country and are pulling the "national security" card. The other side is the public's right to know and not remain ignorant of issues. I believe that the dangers the photos would cause are minimal compared to the issues that have risen due to their nature. If they are being withheld to their contraversial content, that is NOT a reason to keep them from the American people. Citizens should be able to know what the government is doing in their name if issues occur, it is our right and privilege to deal with them.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/30/detainees.photos/index.html

Terrorists Moved to New York

Holder defends decision to try accused 9/11 terrorists in New York

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is where alleged terrorists have been held since the twin towers were struck. The prisoners are now leaving the United States Detention facility to one in Chicago as they wait to go on trial in New York. Attorney General Eric Holder is defending the idea of trying them in civilian court. Many disagree and want a military tribunal to take place instead. He believes that Americans will finally be given justice. The attorney general intends to get the maximum penalty on all five suspects: the death penalty.

Now that the suspects are finally being brought to justice, many people will be crying for blood. Americans are still very sore from the attacks on 9/11. There is no doubt in my mind that all of the terrorists will be executed. There is no way Americans would be satisfied with any other result. This is going to cause a very biased trial to take place. We are trying the men from our standards and they will pay, the American way, for their actions. While I do not agree with the death penalty-- that in itself is a different issue-- I believe that that is the only way that people of the United States would feel that some justice has been done.

I strongly disagree with Jordan Weaver and Tim Lukes who believe it to be a bad thing that the detention center in Cuba is closing.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/18/holder.new.york.trial/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Historical Berlin Wall looms over a Prospering Future

Berlin celebrates night that changed the world

The night that the Berlin Wall came down was a marker. It consigned the Cold War to the past and open a new path for Germany's future. Thousands upon thousands flocked to the place where it once stood on this anniversary of its deconstruction. The east German leader, Merkel, said, "German unity is not complete." When the wall came down, it was the end as well as a beginning of new journey for Germany.

I'm very happy that Germany, though it has not demonstrated this throughout history, is learning from the past. This celebration of the day the Berlin Wall came down is a monumental moment. It shows that not only have the physical barriers been broken down, the psychological wall has been removed as well. While Germany isn't perfect, it is definitely on its way to bettering itself. I applaud the steps that have been taken for it to get to this point.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/09/berlin.wall.anniversary/index.html

Gearing Up for Elections...Already?

Poll: Americans divided in battle for Congress
There is still another year to go before midterm congressional elections, and a new national poll already is showing that Americans are divided as to which party they will vote for. Fifty percent of people said they would vote for a Democratic candidate, while forty-four percent said they would vote for a Republican candidate. On top of that, fifty percent of the voters said they could change their minds. Trying to predict the election this far in advance is filled with variables that could cause truly inaccurate results.

This poll is riddled with errors. Trying to form accurate assumptions months and months away from midterm elections isn't creating any real statistics. The fact that people can change their minds and that many more events can take place between now and then really will change the landscape of the elections. CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said it best, "These tea-leaves are very hard to read." Agreed. The masses aren't always focused quite that far into the future. Maybe predictions should be held off until election day is a bit closer.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/03/poll.congress/index.html

More Casualities in the Middle East

'8 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan'



Our military has suffered a loss as eight United States service members were killed by roadside bombs on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. The day before-- Monday, October 26-- fourteen soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash. That has been the record for the most Americans killed in a 24 hour period for four years. If you add the two deaths that occurred on Sunday, October 25, that brings the number to a terrible number: 24 deaths in 48 hours. October has been the worst month as far a deaths go, in Afghanistan since 2001. The numbers keep climbing up as more and more of our soldiers die.

Friends, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are dying. American people are being killed I type. And yet we are sending more loved ones to the same fate. The statistics shown above portray the soldiers as numbers. They are people. They had families, children, a house, a career, goals, and at the risk of sounding cliche-- dreams. That has ended for them. It is gone. There are 58 that died this October. They are gone. And there is some sympathy for them, but mostly people are thinking, "Christ, that's awful. But thank God it doesn't affect me." I agree with Kate Gearman's view that we aren't in the direct line of fire so we don't think of it as quite so horrible. Americans who remain in the good ol' U.S. have a mentality of out of sight out of mind. That needs to change. Immediately.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/afghan.deaths/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Is America Hesitating?

'Cheney: Obama seems 'afraid' to make decision on Afghanistan
Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes that America's current administration has severely damaged ties with other nations. Obama has been unclear on what his goals are in Afghanistan and he is unspecific when directing the troops. Cheney thinks that America pulling back is a bad idea. "President Obama's cancellation of America's agreements with the Polish and Czech governments was a serious blow to the hopes and aspirations of millions of Europeans," Cheney said. "These are faithful friends and NATO allies, and they deserve better. ... Our friends throughout the world are watching and wondering whether America will abandon them as well." Cheney has defended the Bush administration's interrogation techniques and believes that Obama needs to be more assertive.

Cheney seems to think that Obama pulling out of our agreement to place 10 interceptor missiles in Europe is a sign that the President is unsure on what to decide. While I agree that it was an unwise move for both our sake and Europe's, I don't believe he is hesitating. He is sending more troops to Afghanistan and that to me does not appear to be a sign of fear. Cheney maybe just announcing his opinion to show that he is against Obama, but while doing so, he should make his assumptions of the President accurate. Obama may have made some mistakes this first year, but he definitely is going into it guns ablazing. So far, the White House has made no response to the claims of the former Vice President, but I am sure that when they do, it will be colorful. The administration that Cheney did back-- Bush's-- had many failures. Many retaliations could be made directed toward Cheney.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/22/cheney.obama/index.html

Iran Has Possibly Been Hiding Nuclear Weapons

U.S. to Iran: Prove your nuclear program is peaceful

The United States believes that Iran has been hiding its nuclear weapons under the disguise of an uranium enrichment plant for the past five years. Negotiations begin on Thursday and the United States and our allies think the Iranians are in tight spot. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton thinks that if Iran cannot prove that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, the U.S. should use our strongest sanctions possible. Most officials believe it to be for completely non-peaceful purposes. They wonder why this illegal plant would be hidden underground if it was meant to be peaceful. Iran is not living up to the IAEA policies. Our only weapon at the moment is time.

The world should be a little panicked that Iran may have nuclear weapons. That would mean there is one more country out there that can blow the rest into little peaces. The U.S. is ready to go in guns ablazing but are our pockets ready? We are just pulling out of the recession and if talks on Thursday do not go well there is little we can do with out using money (which we don't have). The Internationl Atomic Energy Association should have full access to that plant to determine if the world really even needs to worry because Iran was telling the truth or to see if what they claimed the plant to be is a facade. Iran insists that they met all standards and are letting the IAEA in. This in itself makes me think they are inoccent however, they may have know for a time that they could be caught and hidden

Hate Crime? Or It Just Violence?

'Small town killing puts focus on crimes against Latinos'
Chrystal Dillman's husband to be-- Luis Ramirez-- was beaten to death by a couple of teenage boys in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. A fight broke out between the Latino Ramirez and the white high-schoolers. Luis died days later from the injuries. The teens had yelled several ethnic slurs while attacking him. Dillman believes her fiance was a victim of a racial hate crime. Research conducted has shown that there are three types of hate crimes that occur: thrill-seekers, retaliators, and defenders. Anti-Latino crimes have increased by 40% since 2003. Police have a hard time deciding if the crime was just blatant violence, or if it was based on race. The people responsible for Ramirez's death were sentenced to 2 years in prison. They were not charged with ethnic intimidation.

It is near impossible to differentiate, in my opinion, between plain violence and hate crimes when the acts are committed between different races. One could easily point fingers to racial prejudiced crimes just because the victim was white and the antagonist black-- or vis versa. I think instead of trying to nail down whether or not the murder of Luis Ramirez was a hate crime, more action should be focused on stopping crime in general. While we are trying to fix the problems that arise today, we should also go to the younger children to prevent these crimes. To instill a good sense of equality early on is vital for people in later life. They will be less likely to commit acts of violence, especially based on mere race. I am extremely against the idea that people can act out against others just because our skins are different color.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/22/lia.shenandoah.killing/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

The Recession: Is it over?

Bernanke says recession ‘very likely over’
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Benanke said on Tuesday that the recession is over. The economy is stabilizing and our country will soon be on the path to recovery. However, Benanke also mentioned that this growth is should not be expected to happen quickly. It will take some time for balance to be regained. While the forecast is looking good, Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Weaver predicted that 'national home prices won't stop sliding until next summer and likely will fall another 10.5 percent from this summer's levels.' Unemployment is expected to reach 10 percent in this next year. The recovery won't happen immediately and might have a V-shaped turnaround. Policymakers are starting to meet to see if they will continue stimulating the economy now that it seems to be leveling.

While it is being predicted that the recession is almost over, there is still proof that it could continue. Home prices are still going down and unemployement is still going up. It is slowing but that could be just one hill on this rollercoaster of an economy. Hopefully these predictions of moderate growth are correct. It will obviously take some time and probably more money for us to get back to where we were before the recession. Our economy will seem very unstable for a while because of the recession even as it begins its upward slope. Two factors that weren't included in the article mentioned above are our spending of troops and people in the middle east as well the new strand of Swine Flu (H1N1). Our involvement in the middle east is going to continue to drain us of money, resources and labor until we get out (not saying that we should get out, merely that it will continue to take a toll on the economy). Who knows what H1N1 has in store for our country. It could be just another mild flu or a wordwide epidemic. In other words, while we hope for the best case scenario, we must be prepared for the improbable worst.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32858855/ns/business-economy_in_turmoil/