Holder: "US a Nation of Cowards" on Race

I have to agree with him. It is not so much that we are a nation of racists, just that we are cowards when it comes to race. He described what he meant by saying; at the workplace, their is plenty of diversity, but when we go home, we tend to segregate ourselves.

I am a college student at UC Santa Cruz. What he described was UC Santa Cruz. Plenty of diversity. No signs of racism. However, after classes are done and it is the weekend, I find that different ethnic groups segregate themselves. Asians hang out with asian people, white people hang out with white people, etc etc. My experience tells me he is right.

Freedom of Speech

At Los Angeles Community College, a student was harassed by his professor for giving a speech supporting "traditional marriage". I want to make it clear that I am extremely opposed to the view that homosexual couples should not the right to get married. However, silencing this kid in a classroom setting is flat out intolerant. Of course others are going to have opposing views, but that does not mean this professor should not show the kid respect. If he wanted to challenge his speech, he should have challenged the speech. Making fun of the kid and not allowing him to finish is cowardly.

Fox, CNN, and MSNBC

Watching Fox news this morning was a waste of time. First I got to here gossip about Michelle Obama. Then I hear gossip about Joaquin Phoenix. I changed the channel to CNN and had similar results, went to MSNBC and had the same story.

Maybe it was a slow day in the news, maybe not. But it's time the media actually tried to inform our public. I know they have to be enticing to get viewers, but it shouldn't be at the cost of the viewer being ignorant. I'd like an update on what is happening in the Gaza strip. I'd like an update on what is happening in Darfur. I'd like an update on what the UN is doing in Rwanda. Enough about Michael Phelps. Get back to reporting the news.

Who Wants Obama to be Successful?

Watching the O'Reilly factor today, I was reminded of those who want our President to fail. 60% of O'Reilly's viewers want Obama to succeed, including O'Reilly. The other 40% of the O'Reilly audience want Obama, and his policies, to fail. This blows my mind.

Why would any American actually want our President to fail? I am really wondering how any decent person would wish this on so many people. The only answer that I come up with is; they want the policies to fail in order to say "I told you so". In order to show that the conservative way is the right way. They would wish upon our country to do worse than it has been the last eight years in order for their opposition and their policies to be proven wrong. The thing that came to my mind while watching the show was; how selfish. Where is the humility?

Stimulus Plan

I'm going to keep this plenty short.

I cannot fathom how the U.S. is planning on paying off the estimated 1.1 trillion dollars this plan is going to cost. I have also seen plenty of examples of the places where this money is going that have nothing to do with economic stimulation. If they are going to call it an economic stimulus plan, they should make sure it is a plan to stimulate the economy. I'm extremely worried about how this is going to play out over the next decade.

Partisan Politics

The two party system in American politics does more harm to the US than it does good. The Republican party is not just a place where people with like ideals reside, it is also a place where people go to form their ideals; the Democratic party is the same way. My point is; people should decide for themselves what is right and wrong on issues and not just let their party decide for them.

Summary: if you are uninformed on an issue, do not automatically assume your party has the right answer. This behavior would be ludicrous.

Gaza

The world is up in arms because of the current situation involving Israel and Hamas. Many are calling it a massacre and world leaders are calling for a truce. The death total is currently near one thousand. What I am concerned about is the uproar (or lack of) about the genocide Darfur. Their death total is up over 300,000. Three hundred times that of the Israeli conflict. There isn't even a comparison, however, the focus still seems to be on Gaza.

I'd also like to point out that during the attack by Israel, Hamas is also sending their own bombs. I'm not saying I support Israel, but I certainly do not support Hamas. Contrary to popular belief, Hamas had it coming.