Gates eases ban on gays in the military

It was announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that enforcement will be eased on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. This is a policy that restricts the United States military from investigating the sexual orientation of an individual and prohibiting them from serving in the military. By repealing this policy it gives certain ranked people the power to reveal the sexual orientation of a military member.

I don't think that this is a step in the right direction. First of all I may not totally agree with homosexuality, but that shouldn't keep people from fighting for their country. Nobody's allowed to discriminate certain nationalities from serving in the military so why should homosexuals be discriminated against? I find this to be wrong based on the fact that they are people. And hey, if they want to fight for their country let them do it.

Purported Bin Laden message hints at retaliation

A recent audio message sent to the United States from Bin Laden threatened another attack on Americans. The reason that the al Qaeda leader is sending these messages is because of the prisoners that we hold. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is being held for trial here in the United States for his actions that took part in the September 11th attack. Bin Laden threatens that if we execute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed they will retaliate by executing Americans.

I find this information very alarming because it hasn't been the first message that we have received from Bin Laden. There have been several messages sent prior to this one. We need to crack down on security and ensure that something like September 11th never happens again. We don't want history to repeat itself. Americans need to be aware of whats going on and the government needs to take action. For now these are just messages, but we as citizens of the United States don't want these threatening messages to become reality.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/25/mideast.bin.laden/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

More Democrats come out against health care bill

Four Democratic Representatives: Ben Chandler of Kentucky, Luiz Gutierrez of Illinois, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin of South Dakota and Heath Shuler of North Carolina have come out and said that they will not be voting for the health care bill. Currently all of the republicans are opposed to the bill and in order for the bill to not be passed they need 38 democrats to vote against it. Of the 39 democrats that voted against the House plan only 14 have remained against the bill whereas the others are uncommited or have not replied. A total of 216 votes are needed to pass the bill. Right now it looks like its going to be close.

I find it interesting that sometimes it its neccesary for the parties to cross over and side with the other party. I like that not everyone has the same views in one party and so there is that cross over when it comes down to voting upon different policies and bills. I feel that the voting in this final step for the bill will be a close one and should be very interesting to watch.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/12/democrats.against.health.care/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+(RSS%3A+Top+Stories)

MIT researchers discover new energy source

At MIT scientists have discovered a new energy source. The way it works is carbon nanotubes are covered with a thin layer of fuel. This creates a reaction that gives off a mini "thermo-power wave". Scientists have found that this technology could be used in the future for making batteries and other electronics like computers and cellphones. Also, because of the amount of energy output batteries would become much smaller and also this technology wouldn't have any energy drainage like the batteries we use today so they would be much more environmentally friendly.

I find this to be a great discovery. We should be trying to find better ways in using our resources to maximize the benefit from them. This technology is defianately significant in the way we look at the energy sources that we use now. In the future we will be more friendly to our environment and the benefit we recieve the product will be much better as well. I'd say its a win-win situation. In my opinion we need to look for more ways in which we can do this.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/12/mit.research.electricity/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+(RSS%3A+Top+Stories)

Issue #1- War Dollars

The issue behind war dollars is whether Congress should be able to use their power to control the president's military policy. Although the president is commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, it is Congress that gets to approve the federal budget and the funding of the war. As of now, the president is spending billions of dollars on the war effort and people are wondering if Congress can step in and somehow stop it. More than $600 billion dollars was spent in 2008 for defense, including the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. This excessive spending on the war is adding to the already massive national debt and it is a heavy burden on the American people.

I think that Congress shouldn't have the power to control the president's military policy. The president may not do what the people want, but he is doing what he thinks is best for our country. I mean, he was elected by the people which is approval enough for doing what he feels is right. Although, I think that Congress should be able to limit the spending because it has gotten out of hand, the president ultimately should have the power to spend as necessary. James Madison wrote about the three branches of government, "should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other." I agree with this statement that there needs to be a system of checks and balances so that each branch can prevent or stop abuse from another branch.

Article Link: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Separation_of_powers_under_the_United_States_Constitution

Issue #2 Spending What We Can Afford- http://mayaseverson.blogspot.com/2010/02/issue-2-spendin-what-we-can-afford.html

Issue #3 Social Insecurity- http://anielsen10.blogspot.com/2010/02/social-insecurity.html

Suicide bomber strikes U.S. base

Thursday, February 11, 5 soldiers were wounded when a bomb went off at a United States base in the Pakita province of Afghanistan. Spokesman Roullah Samoun said that a suicide bomber somehow got into the base and set off the bomb in the "sleeping area" of the base around 9 p.m. Officials don't know how the bomber got into the base but it was determined that the attacker was wearing a uniform that Afghan border patrol usually wear. There is still being investigation.

I feel that if Americans are willing to go overseas to defend our country, they should be protected. I mean people slip up and there are accidents, but there is no reason for 5 soldiers to be dead. Obviously the person should not have been there and security should have been better in protecting these people.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/11/afghanistan.suicide.attack/index.html?iref=allsearch

U.S. missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti

Ten Americans are being held in Haiti for kidnapping thirty three children. The Americans were missionaries from Idaho and said they were taking the children over the border to a place where they could stay until they had built a new orphanage. Nobody thought that they had done anything wrong, but some of the kids weren't even orphans. Some of the kids parents willingly let their children go with the missionaries because they promised a good place and a better life for them. Turns out it is illegal to take a child out of Haiti without government approval. None of the kids had documentation and so it was ruled kidnapping. The judge of the case has 3 months to decide whether they should be prosecuted and so for now they are being kept in Haiti.

I find this article sad. First of all, I do believe that the Americans had no intentions of kidnapping the children. They honestly were just trying to help out in the midst of all the tragedy in their country. But, I do find the missionaries to be kind of careless and not very smart. They should've thought about what they were doing. If there was an earthquake in California and somebody from Maine tried to bring 20 kids to some place I'm pretty sure that people would be looking at them funny asking them what they are doing. You just don't take kids, especially to a different country and with no papers. Its common sense. Plain and simple, what they did looks bad. They may have not meant anything by it but that doesn't matter because what they didn't looked wrong.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/04/haiti.arrests/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29