CNN: Corrupt News Network

The LA Times reported that in the recent Republican debate on CNN, the first 35 minutes of it were devoted to a topic that is somewhat insignificant to the American public. CNN was supposed to cover questions submitted by voters via Youtube.com, but instead of picking random questions on the most significant issues (Iraq, the economy, healthcare) the first question was based on immigration; an issue where there is little margin of difference between policies. So the question is, why did this happen? According to the article, Lou Dobbs, a news personality, has centered his show on immigration. A whole debate by the Republican candidates on immigration means more publicity and attention for his show; which, interestingly enough, is in a battle for better ratings and is competing with FOX news and MSNBC.

the article

IRAN

After the U.S. used fake evidence to justify the war in Iraq, justifying a war against Iran will be extremely difficult. The US is convinced that Iran is trying to gain nuclear power to create weapons, while Iran denies this, and claims that its nuclear capabilities are for energy only. However, Iran and the US have a history of not getting along. Every since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the US and Iran have been on rocky terms. But this is 30 years later, so is it still possible for the US to trust Iran? Maybe not, unfortunately. As We can never be reconciled,” Hossein Shariatmadari, a hardline supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said in a recent interview. “We are ideological enemies.”

Religion as a Political Weapon

As made example by Mitt Romney, religion is important to any party or candidate platform. However, once in the White House, it is important to elect a candidate who will first, respect the ideals and beliefs of his own religion, and second, not let his personal insight into the religion affect executive decisions or control the decisions which he makes. It is important that any President uses his religion to judge what is morally and ethically correct, but he at the same time must take into consideration what America as a whole believes is morally and ethically correct. A fine line must be drawn. For example, Stem Cell Research. Bush claimed that he would veto any bill surrounding this topic. While some states have started their own research, Bush's reasons for his veto are obvious: it's not a moral belief that follows his religion. So the question is, will the next president be able to balance religion and politics in the White House?

Bali Conference

within the past two weeks, the United Nations and representatives from about 190 countries united in a conference in Bali, Indonesia to debate about the current environmental situation, in specifics, Global Warming. The conference came to the conclusion that global warming could be significantly slowed if immediate action was taken. However, as we all know, the biggest emitter of harmful gases is the US, who currently has still refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. It is imperative that this conference finds incentives to drag the US into ratifying or agreeing to certain environmental standards. It is obvious that the United States has the technology to significantly lower carbon gas emissions, just refuses to do it for economic purposes. As a leader in a majority of areas, it is important that the US complies with a future standard regarding environmental problems. A US led campaign will encourage other nations to do the same. It's only a matter of convincing Bush that this is a plan worth while

Mitt Romney (again)

Mitt Romney has decided to give a speech about his unknown religion because recent polls suggest that 36 percent of white evangelists are less likely to vote for a Mormon. While people believe that it's unnecessary for him to speak about his religious beliefs, I think that it's imperative to get the word out and clarify how his beliefs will affect his campaign and his platform. According to statistics, the Church of the Latter Day Saints is only about 2% of the entire nation. Which means a majority of the US population only know that Mormons are polygamists, and settled in Utah. In my opinion, it would be beneficial for Romney to speak out his religion because it is a faith that supports the separation of church and state, and freedom of religion.

Dems: a Party of the Rich

The Washington Times

While its true the that Democratic party started as one that represents the lower and middle class Americans, the fact that it now represents richer households has nothing to do with a change in the interests of the Democratic party. I think that more so, it represents a change in interest of the wealthiest people. It's comparable to the majority of celebrities who choose the democratic party. The issues that the Democratic party supports attracts those with money because those kinds of people want to help out the poorer to lower class citizens, thus they choose to support the Democratic party. I think that this is the same idea that makes Democrats represent a richer majority.

YOUTUBE = YOU CHOOSE!

youtube

I was recently procrastinating and surfing youtube.com when I decided to be adventurous and scroll to the bottom of the page. And to my complete amazement, I found a link that said, "Face the Candidates." I clicked on it, and I found video links to each major Presidential candidate as well as videos to their positions on the most heated issues of the '08 debate. My first reaction was excitement.. I was happy to see that such a popular website was doing something to support the race, and furthermore support voting in the next year's election. In my eyes, it was doing its part to support America. But then, I had second thoughts. It frustrated me to see that the link to this was at the bottom of the page, next to the search button. Why it wasn't at the top next to the other search button bothered me. More depressing was the number of views some of the videos have. Rudy Giuliani's video on education had just a mere 5,000 views. Avril Lavigne's music video, "Girlfriend," is at 62 million. It's disappointing to see that first, youtube.com has put the link in a place that a majority of site visitors don't look, and second, that the American youth have shown little interest in this race for the White House