Goodbye and farewell.

This is my final post on this blog. I have decided to begin a new blog (yourgeneralstore.blogspot.com). It will still contain some political opinion and banter but it will also contain some lighter reading which I would like to focus on for now. Please visit my new site it will be up and running in no time!

Thanks
--Stephanie

Detainee Update

A U.S. Army official said that the reason detainees at Guantanamo Bay were hunger striking was due to the fact that they wanted media attention and that voluneteer fasting was "consistent with al-Qaeda training".

I'm not sure of anything that Army offcials in control at Guantanamo can be trusted or believed and I'm not sure of the current statements made by this Army official are any different.

A relative of one of the hunger strikers said the reason for the hunger strike could not be revealed due to restrictions imposed by the U.S.

I think these Army officials need to look at the bigger picture here. Media attention is probably not the first priority of men who have been inprisioned, some for over 2 years, without any charges brought against them. Hunger strikes are all these people have. Food is the only thing that these prisoners can control and the only thing that might help get their messages.

Army Officials who are afraid that these hunger strikers are creating more media attention should be afraid. The more Guantanamo is in the news the more people will be aware of the injustices that go on there.

Until these prisoners are treated fairly and given fair trials the media attention will continue because injustices, no matter how much the U.S. tries to keep them a secret, will be revealed.

Army Officials and the U.S. Government should look at this hunger strike as a call for action. If these prisoners are so dangerous then it should be no problem to accuse them of crimes. If they are not dangerous they should be released or sent back to their own countries without charges.

These hunger strikers want attention from the U.S. Governement because of the injustices and unfair treatment that they are receiving. Media attention is just a bi-product, a very important bi-product, but a bi-product none the less.

Facts cited from BBC article.

Dr. Phil--Thank You

I would like to give praise to the Dr. Phil show.

Last night's episode focused on race and racism and being racist in America. The segment that caught my eye was on a black mother who had lost her daughter. She was talking about the huge amounts of media coverage for missing women such as Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, and Natalee Holloway and the lack of coverage given to African-American women and other women of color.

Dr. Phil posted the women's daughter's picture along with a few other women of color who have gone missing and not received media coverage.

I know a lot of people watch Dr. Phil and I am hoping that his audience will become more aware of the racism in the media when it comes to missing people. It is so blatantly obvious that the media caters to the stories of lost white women and not women of color and this is a problem that I am happy that Dr. Phil addressed. Thank you Dr. Phil.

Non-Traditional Parenting--Here to Stay

I was reading Peggy Drexler's Open-Forum column in the S.F. Chronicle about same-sex marriage and non-traditional parenting. Drexler links the two and says that the reason people fear same-sex couples getting married is because they fear the idea of non-traditional parenting.

I agree with Ms. Drexler. The same people who fear the idea of a same-sex couple getting married also fear this couple becoming parents. Our idea of parenting, though it is 2005, is still very traditional and very idealized. Most people still believe that having a mother and a father is the best way to bring up children because they have both a male and female role-model as well as role-models for their future relationships.

Parenting, though, is changing. More women are single mothers and bread-winners and there are also more blended families (families where a man and a woman marry and they already have children from another marriage) than every before. Why not add one more combination into the mix? Families with two mothers or two fathers.

Traditionalists believe that children brought up in these types of families will grow up to be gay or lesbian or end up having a warped view of what family really means. There is no evidence to prove any of this and it is very sad to think that traditionalists have forgotten about the one thing that all families need, love.

These traditionalists are too busy worrying about whether these two women will be good parents for this little boy when they should really be worried about is whether or not he is receiving love and the essential care he needs.

Two women or two men can love a child just as much as a man and a woman can love a child. The idea is still a little strange to some people who still have a traditional family view in their head but I think this strangeness is due to the fact that we are unsure of the outcome of this same-sex parenting.

In 20 years I think people will embrace same-sex parenting and see same-sex couple as equals to couples that consist of a man and a woman. This equality will come from years of standing back and watching these couples raise children into strong and intelligent young adults who are no different from the children brought up in more traditional families.

Global Warming Needs More Media Attention

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina a very important issue has come into view, global warming. Though many scientists disagree about whether or not global warming caused the catastrophic hurricane, one thing is for certain, global warming is an issue that needs to be discussed so that people can become educated, informed, and act accordingly.

Most Americans do not believe that global warming is a pertinent issue and the don't believe that they are affected by it in their daily lives or have cause to worry about it currently or for future generations. It is these types of attitudes that lead people to buy gas guzzling vehicles and run their air conditioners all summer.

According to this article, each gallon of gas that your car burns produces 28 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution. Yet some people feel they need a car or SUV that only gets 15 or even fewer miles to the gallon. The article from the San Francisco Chronicle also states that America makes up only 4 percent of the worlds population but contribute 25 percent of the worlds waste. If that doesn't blow you away you must be REALLY bad with numbers.

Americans are wasteful by nature and most residents of this country do not believe that conserving is that big of a deal. "Bigger is better", has always been a motto here in America, but it is time to change. Global warming is real and conserving is a good way to halt the destruction of the ozone layer and create a safer world for the future.

If Americans only make up 4 percent of the world's population our waste should equate to something similar. Instead of buying huge SUVs that not only guzzle gas but create pounds and pounds of carbon dioxide pollution we should buy cars that get high gas mileage (30+ miles per gallon). The article gives more ways to conserve.

We need to do our part and hopefully global warming will become a more pertinent topic in the mainstream media because right now the message is not getting across. People are not realizing the affects of their lavish and extravagant lifestyles. These lifestyles might be fun and part of the "American Way" but they are harming the Earth and all the people on it.

Allegiance to What?

The Pledge of Allegiance was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Sacramento.

The ruling came after the judge found that the words "under God" were unconstitutional because of the mix of church and state.

I never understood the Pledge of Allegiance. All through elementary and middle school we consistently stood every morning and faced the flag and pledged allegiance to it. What does a elementary school student even know about pledging allegiance?

By high school we rarely did the pledge but it seems to me after learning a little more about the country and being more aware of it's history that the pledge would have been a little more relevant as a high school student.

I believe that ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional was the right thing to do, after all making children hold their hands to their hearts and say the words "under God" is a little too much. I also believe it is a little too much for children to pledge allegiance to a flag when they don't really know anything of the country's history at the age of 5, 6, or 7.

Maybe I see it as a little bit of a brainwashing mechanism but then again that could be taking it a bit too far.

Patriotism is good but blind patriotism is not, even at a young age. Children should be taught to be critical thinkers early on and by blindly saying the Pledge over and over is just going to numb them to the patriotism that it stands for.

Children should be taught the history of their country. They should be taught about the founding documents, the wars, and the presidents who formed the country's policies. With this knowledge patriotism and pride for country are formed.

The Pledge of Allegiance is a blind form a patriotism that should not be used in schools for the simple fact that children have no idea what it means and are being instructed to say it over and over again until the words just blend together. Is this really any way to teach pride and loyalty towards their country?

Community-Based Radio

Let's hear it for small community-based radio!

Detainee Update

I know it has been awhile since I have spoke about the detainees at Guantanmo Bay, but they are never forgotten and are, unfortunately, not going anywhere.

The latest news is yet another hunger strike which at this point is all these detainees really have to express themselves. The last hunger strike led to talks with the U.S. government, but no one with charged with any crime and now they are back to square one.

Some of these men have been in prison for almost 3 years! If these men are so evil and deserve so much abuse shouldn't it be easy to charge them with a crime?

Keeping someone in prison without ever charging them for a crime and not ever giving them a trial is a crime in itself and is making America, the supposed "home of the free", look like an oppresive dictatorship in which we chose how we should give a fair trial and who we shouldn't.

It infuriates me to see these people sitting in limbo and not knowing when things will begin to happen. It infuriates me even more when the only way these detainees can get their point across is through a hunger-strike. What has this world come to? What has our own country done to it's name?