6 posts tagged “thoughts”

Indeed, there has been quite a few things in the news lately that I have considered commenting on.

Last week, I thought of talking about the teacher who was arrested in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.  Another incident that caught my attention was in Saudi Arabia where a woman was given a punishment after she was abducted and raped.  It stuns me at times the differences between the society of America and those of other countries.  I do not speak ill of Islam or those that follow it.  I have known several people who follow Islam through the years, and I respect their beliefs.  I just find it hard to fit my mind around some of the strict laws that some countries impose on their people, particularly their women.

This week, there is the shooting that took place in Omaha.  As I read more and more about the background of the teen responsible, I see some disturbing similarities with some people I know.  Thankfully, they are past that stage in their lives, and they know if they need help, their loved ones will drop everything to ensure they get the help they need.  It is hard to believe a person would do something this horrifying around the holidays.  People plan to spend the holidays with peace and joy.

Another thing I keep hearing about is the debate surrounding the movie, "The Golden Compass".  I compare it to a lesser version of the debate around "The Da Vinci Code".  They are both popular books that have been made into movies.  Supposedly, "The Golden Compass" has anti-religion and anti-Christian themes in it.  Some people are insisting that Christians boycott the movie.  This goes to show how much TV I watch.  I had no idea the book was being made into a movie until a couple weeks ago.  I have the trilogy, but I have not yet read it.  I bought it quite some time ago with the intent of reading it, but got sidetracked by everything that has been going on.  Now, I am intrigued.  I want to see what all the fuss is about.  I did the same after "The Da Vinci Code" became such a controversy.  I read the book and almost laughed at the whole mess.  I can understand why some of my fellow Christians might consider the book upsetting, but there was one thing I thought was made rather clear throughout the book.  It was fiction.  There was no truth to it, however many myths and rumors might have contributed to its making.  It was fiction.  So is "The Golden Compass".  I will enjoy this book.  Maybe I will find the chance to see the movie and compare the two, too.  I like doing that.

It has been a while since I last posted my thoughts on things I find interesting in the news.

I was wandering through CNN.com when I found an article about 'Roe vs. Wade for Men' being rejected by a federal appeals court.  Apparently, a man in Michigan argued that if a woman could chose among abortion, adoption, or raising a child, then a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should be able to decline the financial responsibilities of fatherhood.  The man also argued that paternity laws in Michigan violates the U.S. Constitution equal protection clause because it does not extend reproductive rights to men.  Okay.  First, if people do not use some form of protection while sharing intimacies, then they should not be surprised at the possibility of a pregnancy.  Granted, according to the article, the woman involved told this man she could not get pregnant due to a medical problem.  I will not assume she lied to the man, but the man should have taken precautions just in case.  Second, if the woman decides to keep and raise the baby, and she is responsible and capable of properly caring for the baby, then I believe the baby's father should provide some support for the child.  This support should be within the man's financial means, of course.  I believe both parents should be held responsible for the child.  This means that the father should be involved in the child's life, whether he planned to have a child or not.  Of course, this would mean that the parents need to have a somewhat decent relationship, if for nothing else but the sake of the child.  It takes two to have a child.  It should take two to raise the child.

Another interesting article I found was about a grave robber in New Hampshire.  The body of a woman who died in 1821 was stolen from her grave on Halloween.  Investigators are investigating all angles of the grave robbery, including that of witchcraft.  They say it appeared too neat for a grave robber interested in looting the grave of any valuables (jewelry).  The article even added a tidbit about some people believe that if a skull is taken on Halloween, it will grant powers to the one who holds it.  I found it interesting because I do not see articles about grave robbers or witchcraft too often.  I wonder if the article hold any truth.

There was another school shooting.  What surprises me most is the fact several students said he had been making threats, yet no one seemed to take them seriously.  They thought the boy was joking. How? After so many shootings, how could they risk thinking it was a joke? It boggles my mind, especially with details in the news of the numerous confrontations the boy had.  The only upside to this shooting, if there is such a thing, is that no one this boy shot was killed.

Another story that has been making the news a lot recently is the Jena 6 incident.  One of the teens involved was ordered back to jail for violating probation.  He had recently been released on bond after the court threw out his conviction on battery charges in adult court, and sent the case to juvenile court.  They said the case should never have been tried in adult court since the boy was sixteen at the time of the incident.  He was already on probation for four previous juvenile offenses.  Two of those offenses were simple battery charges.  What do I think? He violated probation.  In my opinion, he is showing increasingly violent behavior.  Was it motivated by racial tensions over the recent hanging of nooses at his school? Possibly.  Does it give him an excuse to act out? No.  He deserves the jail time.  Reverend Al Sharpton has denounced the decision and called for the state governor to intervene.  I hope they do not.  Should more have been done about the noose hangings? Maybe.  The school did what they thought was right.  I will not question their decision, for I do not know what all they considered when making said decision.

There are other stories making the news right now.  I am not sure yet what to think about a couple of them.  For example, eight former juvenile boot camp employees were acquitted of manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old who died after a confrontation with them.  More to come once my thoughts are in order.

I am somewhat disturbed by the news today.  Iran's parliament has classified the U.S. Army and CIA as terrorist organizations.  I view this as the continuing of a tit-for-tat match between the United States and Iran.  I do not like it.  Does it surprise me? No, not really.  I think this could mean the beginning of more open hostilities between the two countries, which is not something I want to see.  I suppose we will see if that actually happens.  I pray that it does not.  We do not need another war.

Moving along to another topic.  My apologies if you do not like the change of subject.

I watched the first episode of 'Moonlight'.  It is about a private investigator named Mick St. John, who happens to also be a vampire.  I have always liked stories about vampires.  I do not know why.  Then again, I have always had an interest in stories of the paranormal.  Anyway, I liked the episode.  I believe it got mixed reviews, but I liked it, so that is all that matters.  I downloaded it from iTunes.

I have also watched the season premiers of CSI: NY and CSI: Miami.  CSI: Miami brought in an interesting twist.  I liked it.  I still need to watch CSI's season premier.  I already have an idea of what happened, but I still want to see it.  I may need to go bug Rob about it.  I know he has it.  Khandi, Rob, and I watched the season premier of House.  That was rather amusing.

Anywho, that is enough of my thoughts for the morning.  I am heading to bed.

I wonder if I am the only one having issues with CNN.com the last few days.

I was reading the news earlier and was somehow entertained by two stories coming from Chicago.  I do not know why they struck me as funny.  I think it may be the fact that the stories both came out today.

The first story I read was about Chicago's Police Department being under fire for not investigating claims of police brutality effectively.  To cite the example given by CNN.com, between 2002 and 2004 there were 10,000 complaints filed against the Chicago Police Department.  Many of those claims involved alleged police brutality and assault.  Only 18 resulted in disciplinary action.

Now, I am a cop for the United States Air Force.  I know some people try to tell stories in hopes of getting out of trouble.  But 10,000 claims in two years? With only 18 resulting in disciplinary action? Wow, which is a great understatement.  I cannot imagine how they could not have seen that as a problem.  Just reading those four lines in the article was enough to raise my eyebrows in both surprise and disgust.

The second story involved three alleged mobsters being convicted in Chicago of various murder charges.  I find the mob to be a rather interest subject to read about for some reason.  Hence, I have followed several stories involving alleged mobsters over the last couple of years.  It was while reading this article that I started laughing about the fact this story and the story about police brutality made headlines on the same day.  Is my sense of humor warped?

Another duo of stories that have caught my eye involve car crashes where the victims have not been found right away, despite family and/or friends pleading for the police to do more to find them.

The first story involved a car accident where two survivors managed to get help and pleaded for rescue crews to help the two friends still in the wrecked car.  Their pleas were not heeded and, several hours later, the father of one of the victims found his son dead at the accident scene.

I do not understand how the rescue crews could just ignore pleas from the victims friends like that.  They were told many times that there were two other people hurt in the accident.  Yet no one went down to the wreckage and looked. Why? What if the two young people that died could have survived if they were found quicker?

The second story is from just south of my hometown.  A woman disappeared after work.  Her husband called police and said she was missing after she failed to return home.  Eight days went by before the woman's car was found wrecked.  The woman was air lifted to the hospital, where she is critical condition.  She is lucky to have survived that long.  Her husband is very unhappy.  Part of the problem was the fact he was a suspect in her disappearance after it was confirmed by video surveillance that she had left work, which I feel is understandable.  Eight days before they think of trying to find her cell phone signal, though? That was what led to her being found.

It is frustrating when these types of stories come out.  I look from both sides, or I try to.  Maybe that is why I get irritated when I see these.  I think law enforcement could do better, because I am sure I would have thought to do something, or look somewhere.

Since I tend to write every now and again about things that are going on in the news, I figured I should probably start keeping track and organizing them.  So today, I will write my thoughts on Gloria Strauss, Chornice Y. Kabbelliyaa (Lewis), and President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Gloria Strauss was an 11-year-old girl.  She lived in the Seattle area.  She lost her battle with neuroblastoma on Friday.  The Seattle Times has been featuring a series on her and her family.  They are devout catholics and prayed fervently for her to be healed.  The series featuring Gloria has spread nation wide as people prayed for Gloria and her family.  She was inspiration to other children who were fighting illnesses.  Some people would argue that this is proof against God.  I disagree.  God has His own plan for people.  People will not, and cannot, understand this plan.  I also believe that in her death, Gloria received the healing she and her family had been praying for.  She is no longer suffering.  She is no longer in pain.  She is no longer struggling to breathe.  She is in Heaven, in peace.  The knowledge of this is one of the comforting thoughts her family is holding on to.  It is not going to be easy coping with the death of their loved one, but I believe their faith is strong enough to comfort them and pull them through.

Another story featured today in The Seattle Times is about Chornice Y. Kabbelliyaa, who also goes by the last name Lewis.  She plead guilty today to one count of first-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree assault.  She burned her foster daughter's (who also happens to be her niece) tongue with a heated fork, beat the girl's feet with dumbbells, and stuck a needle repeatedly in the girl's eye.  What kind of person would do this to someone they are supposed to love, nurture, protect, and mentor? This girl relied on her to provide her with care.  Instead this woman terrorized her.  I sometimes think people that treat those they are supposed to be caring for like this ought to be shot, or at least they should have to endure what they did to those they were supposed to protect.  I cannot imagine how traumatized this girl is.  I wonder how much trouble she will have in life.  Will she act out in anger for what happened to her? Will she be afraid of getting close to anyone? I can only hope she gets the help she needs.

And finally, I will talk about my views on President Ahmadinejad.  I do not like him.  I do not like his views on Israel or the Halocaust.  I do not really care about his nuclear ambitions, whatever they may be, so long as he is not intending to use them for the purpose of making weapons, which he has said repeatedly he is not.  I honestly wonder whether or not his people are smuggling weapons and fighters into Iraq.  There has not been any real proof linking him to this, so I cannot say that I think he supports the fighting there.  People act on their own accord.  I also think the United States and Iran have been having a tit-for-tat session over the past few months.  Iranians are being detained in Iraq, people with American ties are being detained in Iran, and the two countries or steaming at each other.  President Ahmadinejad is in the United States now.  There has been quite a bit of protest and controversy since his arrival.  But I cannot believe how he was treated at Columbia University.  Why, if he was invited to speak there, would the school's president say he acts like a "petty and cruel dictator"? The man is a president of a country, and should be treated with respect, even if people do not like or trust him.  I almost admire President Ahmadinejad for staying calm.  I think he made a good point when talking about the Halocaust and the 9/11 attacks, though others most likely found it very insulting.  I wonder what would happen if the United States and Iran actually sat down and talked things out.  Would they gain understanding of each other? I think it would be good if they did.  Iran has some powerful influence in that region.  Iran is not going away.  I do not like the idea of the United States charging after Iran.  The American public is tired of war, but it would seem their pleas are falling on deaf ears.  We need to have some sort of understanding with Iran.  I do not expect it to be perfect.  There are too many differences between the two countries.  But it is needed.