Announcement Video

This is Joe Biden. He is running for President as a Democrat. He is a long time senator on the Foreign Relations committee.

Teacher Could Get 40 Lashes For Allowing Her Class to Name a Teddy Bear Mohammad

Here is another case from a Muslim country that could result in the whipping of person, and what was her crime you ask? As a teacher she let her class name a teddy bear Mohammad.

Gillian Gibbons is a Liverpool woman who traveled to Sudan to teach the elites children. Now she is charged with "inciting hatred, insulting religion, and showing contempt of religious beliefs," a crime punishable by up to 40 lashes. So how exactly did she "incite hatred, insult religion, and show contempt of religion"? She allowed her primary school students so these to name a class teddy bear Mohammad. (Primary school is elementary school in an English system...so these where very young kids who named the bear Mohammad). Mohammad is of course the name of Islam's holiest prophet, likenesses of whom are forbidden by the religion.

The bear was part of a project that was meant to teach the students about animals. One girl bought in a bear and each week a new student would take the bear home with a journal that they where to update with the bears activities. The class voted as a whole to name the bear Mohammad. A total of 23 students voted to do this, an huge a majority of the class. Mohammad was also the most popular boys in the class.

Ms. Gibbons has been in prison since last Sunday. Police bought her in for questioning and then arrested her, despite the fact that her colleagues insist was an inadvertent mistake. The school points out that Ms. Gibbons had only been in the country since August. The school director says "This was a completely innocent mistake." "Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam." The director also describes what happened when the police came to the school to arrest Ms. Gibbons "We tried to reason with them but we felt they were coming under strong pressure from Islamic courts," he adds. "There were men with big beards asking where she was and saying they wanted to kill her." The fate of the school is now also in question. They have had to close their doors until at least January because they fear reprisals by Islamic extremists.

Ms. Gibbons can be sentenced to six months in prison, a fine, or a public lashing under Sudan's blasphemy laws.

***Update*** Thousands took to the streets of Sudan calling for the EXECUTION of Ms. Gibbons!!!
****Update****Ms. Gibbon was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation back to England.
*****Update***** Ms. Gibbon's was released from prison and sent back to England before her sentence took place. The leader of Sudan had to step in on her behalf.

High School Musical News

Disney has released High School Musial III news. They say for HSM III will be on the big screen and it will have all their original cast members! It will be senior year for the wild cats, so that means graduation and the prom...Though this will likely be the last High School musical, however there are rumors that if a fourth movie was ever made it would star a completely new cast.

sorry, this might not be a political news story but these movies are so cute I had to post the news.

Finials Suck

Finials are coming up so I will have less time to blog. I'm sorry. It will all be over soon.

Chosing a Candiate

If you are still like many Americans then you don't know who you are planning to vote for. I recently got sent this website. You answer its questions and it cross references your answers to how the candidates of both party's would answer. Then it tells you which candidate your beliefs are closest too.

Womens Rights and the Middle East

Here is a story not getting a lot of play in the mainstream media and that is really pissing me off! It is the story of a Saudi woman who has been daubed in the press the "Qatif Girl" (Qatif is the part of Saudi Arabia this woman is from). He name is being withheld from the press because her story is so horrific, but it is a story that needs to be told.

The "Qatif Girl" was gang raped by seven men and she was just sentence to 200 whips and half a year in prison by the Saudi government. What was her crime: she was with a man who was not her male relative. Her orginal sentence was only 90 lashes but since she appled her case and went to the international community for help the court increased her sentence. The court said she "attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," and for this she is getting jail time and 200 lashes. Her lawyer also got his law license revoked by the court for the same reason. The seven rapist got anywhere from two to nine years for there crime, does that sound like justice to anyone? Not me!

In December 2006 this young girl was able to get her account of what happened to a International Human Rights Group. Her story starts when she was only 16 years old. She began having a phone relationship with a man over the phone (something that is not allowed in Saudi Arabia). The girl had never seen this man before he was just befriended via the phone (apparently young men in Saudi Arabia have been known to leave their phone numbers on cards and leave them for girls to find. No real dating is allowed in Saudi and this is just one way to contact random women. It might not have been the smartest thing in the world for this girl to call one of the numbers she found, but she was only 16!!!) . After a while this man started to threaten her with telling her parents that she was talking to him. The only way he would not tell her parents is if she agreed to send him a picture of herself. So, thats what the girl did.

A few months later she asked for the photo back because she had just gotten married. He would only give the picture back if she agreed to meet with him. She met with him in a public market to get the photo back. He offered to give her a ride home (since after all women are legally not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia).

Here is where I'm just going to quote her interview, I feel its something that should be said in her own words:

"He started to drive me home. …We were 15 minutes from my house. I told him that I was afraid and that he should speed up. We were about to turn the corner to my house when they [another car] stopped right in front of our car. Two people got out of their car and stood on either side of our car. They man on my side had a knife. They tried to open our door. I told the individual with me not to open the door, but he did. He let them come in. I screamed.

"One of the men brought a knife to my throat. They told me not to speak. They pushed us to the back of the car and started driving. We drove a lot, but I didn't see anything since my head was forced down."

"They took us to an area … with lots of palm trees. No one was there. If you kill someone there, no one would know about it. They took out the man with me, and I stayed in the car. I was so afraid. They forced me out of the car. They pushed me really hard ... took me to a dark place. Then two men came in. They said, 'What are you going to do? Take off your abaya.' They forced my clothes off. The first man with the knife raped me. I was destroyed. If I tried to escape, I don't even know where I would go. I tried to force them off but I couldn't. [Another] man … came in and did the same thing to me. I didn't even feel anything after that.

"I spent two hours begging them to take me home. I told them that it was late and that my family would be asking about me. Then I saw a third man come into the room. There was a lot of violence. After the third man came in, a fourth came. He slapped me and tried to choke me.

"The fifth and sixth ones were the most abusive. After the seventh one, I couldn't feel my body anymore. I didn't know what to do. Then a very fat man came on top of me and I could no longer breathe.

"Then all seven came back and raped me again. Then they took me home. … When I got out of the car, I couldn't even walk. I rang the doorbell and my mother opened the door. She said you look tired.' I didn't eat for one week after that, just water. I didn't tell anyone. I went to the hospital the next day.

"The criminals started talking about it [the rape] in my neighborhood. They thought my husband would divorce me. They wanted to ruin my reputation. Slowly my husband started to know what had happened. Four months later, we started a case. My family heard about the case. My brother hit me and tried to kill me."

Barack Obama on ABC World News Tonight

ABC is doing brief bios on all the Presidential candidates...here is Barack Obama's story.

Who is Fred Thompson on ABC Nightly News

In the interest of fairness I'll show the Republican candidates too!

Here is An Interesting Thought

I don't necessarily agree...but its a thought.
THE B

MTV Saudi Arabia???

MTV Arabia is coming to TV sets inside the Arabian desert. They want t build MTV around hip-hop, the channel will be hosted by a Saudi and Palestinian man. Yet no one should expect MTV Arabia to be anything like the MTV of America. Abdullatif Al- Sayegy, CEO Arab Media Group says

" rap about family, about your country, your school, your work, your colleges, your mom, or dad."

40% of all material will be made locally in Saudi Arabia...including a Saudi version of "Made."
This might be one small step for free speech in the Middle East...

The Danger of Fear

The results of USB 11, an ASSU (Associated Students of Stanford University) resolution to oppose the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld to the Hoover Institution, were 8 in favor, 5 opposed and 2 abstentions. The resolution was 2 votes away from the 2/3-majority needed to pass. At first glance, these results seem like a definite loss to the vast majority of the undergraduate student body that opposes his appointment and the over 4,000 people who signed the online petition to oppose his appointment. While it is a devastating loss to the thousands of us who oppose Rumsfeld’s appointment, I think these results signify a threatening disease I have witnessed not just on Stanford’s campus but within our generation – fear.

Fear may not be as horrific as AIDS when it comes to amount of human devastation it exacts but I do feel it is a disease that is worth worrying about. Fear causes people to not take a stand on a controversial issue in the most dangerous of times. Some of you may be thinking, “Well, it’s not like World War III is going to start with Rumsfeld being on our campus.” You’re right, it won’t but let’s put it in perspective.

Donald Rumsfeld has shown countless times that he shows no respect for truth, wisdom, or human life or dignity. As President Bush’s Secretary of Defense, he played a leading role in doctoring up lies and dubious claims to justify the invasion of Iraq, a country that never attacked the United States. Iraq did not possess massive stockpiles of “weapons of mass destruction”, as later weapons inspections proved, and there were no connections between Iraq and al-Qaeda or the terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, the Bush administration managed to fool the entire American public into supporting an unjustified, immoral, and imperialistic invasion of a country that never attacked us and posed no threat to us. The tolls on human life have been devastating. Thousands of young Americans and millions of Iraqis have lost their lives in a conflict that should have never happened in the first place. In addition, as Bush’s Defense Secretary, Rumsfeld authorized the use of torture in places such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, an utterly blatant violation of international human rights law. And yet, the Hoover Institution has the audacity to award this man with honors and allow him to make policy recommendations for their Middle East Task Force. Do we really want someone of such character making policy recommendations for the future in the middle of our campus?

Honestly, every time I go through Donald Rumsfeld’s actions, it makes me sick to my stomach. It sickens me everyday to know that so many people who didn’t have to die have died as a result of this man’s actions. It makes me even sicker that our university – the administration and the undergraduate senate – does not have the guts to stand up against something such as this. Donald Rumsfeld epitomizes everything that our university is opposed to. Stanford University is one of the greatest universities in the entire world. Our alumni have created Yahoo!, Google, given birth to Silicon Valley, and even served on the United States Supreme Court. Therefore, this university is clearly driven to the pursuit of knowledge and truth and using it to benefit the world. Donald Rumsfeld is the polar opposite of that. His actions have shown that he is willing to lie and break the law in order to pursue aggressive, imperialistic and immoral policies and, thus, his appointment violates the mission and moral conscience of Stanford University.

Now how does this relate to the fear amongst Stanford students and our generation? Well, here’s the answer. The undergraduate senate had a perfect opportunity in its hands to stand up for the voice of the student body and the moral conscience of this university but they FAILED. The primary argument driving the debate was whether or not such a resolution – a resolution actively condemning the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld to the Hoover Institution – was reaching beyond the scope of the ASSU. It is such a stupid argument. If the vast majority of the undergraduate student body opposes the appointment and the undergraduate senators were elected to serve the will of the undergraduate student body, OF COURSE IT IS WITHIN THE ASSU’S SCOPE! However, as lame and absurd as this argument was, it managed to win as it caused the bill to be 2 votes short of receiving the 2/3-majority required to pass. As an undergraduate who loves this university and voted for many of the senators in the ASSU, I feel personally betrayed – betrayed because they rejected my voice and so many voices on this campus. This is what I mean by fear. Because this issue is so “political” and “controversial”, many senators did not want to touch it for fear of being too “extremist” or not moderate or intellectual.

Fear is not something that occurs just at Stanford but within our entire generation. Sure, our generation may be technologically savvy. We know how to market ourselves to the best colleges. We’re up-to-date on current events, involve ourselves in community and government activities and still manage to keep up good grades. On the outside, our generation looks prosperous and has a bright future ahead of us. However, our generation is missing something that the previous generation of the 1960s had – and that’s courage.

With so many things going on in the world – global warming, international terrorism, the war in Iraq, torture, the restriction of civil liberties at home, racism, poverty – these times are only a few assassinations from being as terrible as the 1960s. The previous generation faced many controversial issues – racism, civil rights, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, etc. – but they had the courage to stand up for what is right and move the country in the right direction. They marched, protested, lobbied and did whatever they could to stand up against the many injustices going on at that time. It took them years of fighting but they managed to accomplish many things that many of us take for granted today, such as civil rights for women and minorities. However, you don’t see our generation doing the same thing. Sure, we may say we care about social issues but so many of us are not willing to take a firm stand and fight for what is right. Anytime there is an opportunity to take a firm stand, we fear being labeled “extremist” or “on the fringe” and choose the easier path of being “moderate” and constantly researching and debating. While researching and debating are very important things and being moderate is not a bad thing, they are not adequate tools to create change in such dangerous times.

John F. Kennedy said in Inaugural Address, “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.” The ASSU had a perfect opportunity to let the outside world know that the undergraduate student body is vehemently opposed to the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld to the Hoover Institution, a man who violates the moral conscience of the university. If the ASSU had any courage, it would have welcomed the opportunity to stand up for what is right. Instead, they capitulated to fear and shrunk from this opportunity. This makes me sick. I, however, choose not to capitulate to fear and welcome the responsibility to stand up for what is right. As long as Rumsfeld is here and as long as there’s unnecessary suffering going on in the world, I will speak out and I will stand up for what is right. The question is, will you?

ABC World News: Ron Paul Surprises the Political World

CNN's Funny Pelosi Edit

CNN did a "funny" cut of the Speaker. They decided not to use the full quote so they can make their point. Rather than telling the truth, showing the truth, and speaking the truth CNN has decided to cut clips out and show half truths to their viewers...is this really news?

Its Veterans Day

Remember all of those who are not with us today because of war. They are away in a far off land fighting, risking their lives. We all have an obligation to do right by them and remember the ones who do not make it home.

Toby Keith - American Soldier

Thank a Veteran today.

Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live

A little humor to brighten your day...anyone else think that SNL can sometimes bring to light what we are all thinking...

Welcome Adam!!!

OK, so I told you guys I wanted to bring on guest blogger's, well I have one. Below is a post by Adam Hudson. I have known Adam for a little over a year. We met during an internship at our state senators office.

Adam has to be one of the smartest and coolest people I know. He is currently attending Stanford and is very active in several peace groups on campus. His post below is in regards to a rally that one of his groups is organizing. The rally is to raise awareness about former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld coming to the Hover Institute. The Hover Institute is a Republican "think tank" on Stanford campus. As you can imagine numerous students are upset by Rumsfelds appointment to the Hover Institute, since they feel Rumsfeld helped push the war in Iraq on the country and thus he does not represent the values of Stanford University. Adam and many other Stanford students are holding a rally today to help raise awareness about Rumsfeld coming to Stanford and hopfully they will rasie enough suport to get Rumsfeld kicked off campus!

I hope you enjoy listening to Adam's views.

Adam's speech for the Stanford Anti-Rumsfeld Rally

A great man once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Those words were spoken by John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. Speaking before a country ready for change, Kennedy’s words were a call to action for the nation. He let the people know that moving the country and the world toward a brighter future would require the participation of the masses. Instead of focusing entirely on their busy lives, the people had to be willing to sacrifice for the greater good of humanity. As evidenced by the social upheaval of the 1960s, people took those words seriously. Such sentiment and willingness to sacrifice, I lament, has disappeared.
As a student here at Stanford, I see Stanford as more than just a university; I see it as an institution with a very important place in the world. Our alumni become lawyers, engineers, business leaders, and even Justices on the Supreme Court. An institution of such tradition and prestige obviously must stand for some higher cause. Stanford is an institution devoted to the never-ending search for knowledge and truth and using it to benefit humanity. The recent appointment of Donald Rumsfeld to the Hoover Institution, a think-tank that lies in the geographic heart of our beloved campus, violates the mission and moral conscience of Stanford University for many reasons.
As President Bush’s Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld played an important role in manufacturing lies to justify the imperialistic invasion of Iraq. He claimed that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were buddies and that Iraq played a role in 9/11. The 9/11 Commission found no connections between the two, thus proving this claim false. Rumsfeld also claimed that Iraq had massive stockpiles of “weapons of mass destruction” and that Saddam would hand them to terrorists in order to attack America. Later weapons inspections proved this claim to be utterly false. Donald Rumsfeld also played a key role in authorizing the use of torture in places like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Anyone familiar with the Geneva Conventions would know that this is a blatant violation of international human rights law.
The list could go on and on but this is enough to prove that not only does Rumsfeld have no respect for the truth but he also has no respect for human dignity and basic morality. The fact that our university would allow such a person, a person who is basically a war criminal, to receive the title of “distinguished visiting fellow” at a think-tank in the middle of its campus with no challenge or voice of opposition makes me sick to my stomach.
But what makes me even sicker is the apathy among the student body. Having a man who has shown no respect for human life or dignity affiliated with your school should not be a politically taboo issue. Yet, it’s treated as such. People rarely talk about how Rumsfeld’s appointment is damaging not just to Stanford’s image but also for the future. Do we really want someone who played a leading role in manufacturing lies for an unjust war and authorized the use of torture making policy recommendations for a think-tank that sits in the middle of our campus? And it seems like whenever this issue is talked about, it’s reduced to cliché sound bites, such as Rumsfeld’s appointment is about freedom of speech. Donald Rumsfeld used his power and influence to smear people who disagreed with him and the president’s policies, labeling them as traitors or unpatriotic. In addition, it is not his mere beliefs that are offensive but his actions – actions that should make any moralistic or rational person sick to their stomachs. It is very possible to find another conservative fellow with much more integrity than Donald Rumsfeld. Therefore, freedom of speech is not the case here.
As a Stanford student, with many friends in the armed services, I feel it is my responsibility to stand up for human rights and oppose Rumsfeld’s appointment. If I refuse to speak out during such dangerous times – times in which millions of Iraqis and thousands of Americans are dying in an unjust war based on lies, times in which the United States is violating international human rights law by torturing people in secret prisons, all in the name of preserving “freedom” while restricting civil liberties here at home – then I will have blood on my hands. And so my fellow students, I ask of you to do this. If you truly love Stanford University, if you truly love this country and if you truly want to see a brighter future not only for yourselves but for your children and your grandchildren then DO SOMETHING. The time for making excuses is over. Ask not what you can do for yourselves but what you can do for the greater good of humanity. And you can start now by standing up for human rights and getting Rumsfeld off of our fucking campus.

What Do You Do? What Could Be Done?

So to all you "young adults" out there. What do you do for fun on the weekend? and what could be done by the city to make things better?

What Is A Teen To Do???

Ok, so I've said it before...I live in kinda a small town. Not small town like boondocks Kanasas...but still small. My socail life is made up of going to High School football games, bowling, movies, and ice cream.

The problem is that I'm 19 and the list above is rapidly losing its appeal. Frist of all Football games and ice cream stores have a short shelf life. Football games end (mostly in tears with my high school) and ice cream shops close (way to early). And though I enjoy bowling and movies...they are expensive and get old really quick.

I live in a city whose motto is "Where families come first." But it seems the word "family" only applies to five year old toddlers who might enjoy kids-fest or some twelve year old who might enjoy hip-hop lessons at a community center.

Well I'm here to tell my city representatives I'm still part of a family last time I checked. I am entitled to the amount of concideration as that five or tweleve year old. I'm not asking for much. I'm asking for attention. I want the city to look at teen issuses not tween issues!

The Politics of Parsing

This is Hillary saying two different things at the same debate...I've got to say is "huh, I'm confused..."

Sen. Obama on The Today Show

Somebody agrees with me on Hillary using the "woman card"

Eisenhower on the Military Industrial Complex

We should have listened...

Hillary Clinton, A Womans Worst Choice

Hillary Clinton is this countries first serious female candidate for President. Because of this she is holding the dreams of a lot of little girls in her hands. “Yes Sally, you to one day maybe President.” But what is Hillary Clinton teaching Sally about how get to the office of the Presidency?

Lesson 1 Marry Well: Sometimes it can be difficult for a woman to become a high ranking political official and it is even harder to get the media attention that is needed to later become President. To become President you have to be good at your job, but you also have to have a lot of cameras pointing at you. Hillary Clinton found the prefect way to obtain all that, marry well and become first lady. By becoming first lady she got to have unlimited access to the candidate (her husband), she got to have influential jobs that the first lady often gets (think more humanitarian stuff) and she got lots of media attention. I’m not saying Hillary doesn’t love Bill, but even Hillary’s close college friends admit that one of her major attractions to Bill was that Hillary was sure Bill would become President someday…

Lesson 2 Its Not Nice To Pick On A Girl: We all have to admit that fact is still there. Most people feel that it is not right for a man to be “mean” to a woman. You can bet Hillary and her staff know this…they saw the results of it in her first Senate race. During the debate of that race, Hillary’s male opponent strongly challenged her on some issues. So much so that he left his podium and walked over to Hillary and tried to get her to sign a “Pledge.” Well that man lost the election. What’s more is many analysts believe he lost that election in that one moment. Studies show that many people saw that “in your face pledge” as an invasion of Hillary’s personal space. It was too mean, too confrontational, and something that is not acceptable to do to a woman. That Senate race was a dead tie before the debate and then after it, Hillary was in the lead.

To me this reinforces the old stereotype that woman are different than men. And we are…don’t get me wrong…I would be turned off if a man was openly “mean” to a women. But being challenged on a political issue is not “mean,” it is what is meant to happen. And it is wrong for any woman to hide behind it. This is what Hillary is doing. Hillary after losing this Tuesdays debate released a e-mail to all her supporters stating that debate was nothing more than, and I quote “the politics of pile-on.” She is saying that the men decided to go after her and that was wrong of them. Well I’m sorry Hillary, they went after your stance on the issues, not after you. If you stop voting for war with Iraq and Iran then maybe other people (men and women) will stop bring it up. But until then, it is the obligation of every person who disagrees with you to say so, that is a democracy Mrs. Clinton…look into it.

Lesson 3 If it’s not Nice To Pick On A Girl, Act Like A Girl: Anyone notice that ever since Hillary decided to run for President she got a lot girly all of a sudden? Hillary chose as her campaign theme song “You and I” by Celine Dion. Now I like Celine Dion’s music…but I’m a woman, and I like it because her music tends to be mushy and sentimental…and is that what you want your campaign song to be like? Normally they are about hope (such as “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow”) and they are normally the type of song anyone can sign…can anyone reach the high notes on Celine’s Titanic song…I don’t think so… Also has anyone noticed that Hillary laughs a lot more now? It isn’t even so much of a laugh than it is a giggle. Whenever someone asks her a hard question Hillary laughs them off. As if to say “how funny you think that way, now go away.” She does really challenge people on the issues…she just giggles…and smiles…

All I have to say is: ok Hillary, I get it you’re a woman, just like me, giggles and Celine Dion in all. But you are meant to be more than that, you are a Presidential candidate. Don’t laugh off the hard questions, answer them! Don’t tote out your experience as First Lady as an advancement for women’s rights. Marrying well and getting power is not the same as getting your own power. Queen Elizabeth was ruler of England at the same time England was burning witches (not a real advancement for women there…Hilary is no different). Hilary show us younger woman that it is possible for us to reach Presidency and we don’t have to sell our selves out to bad female stereotypes to get there!