I think it’s time we rethink why we execute criminals. Because we seem to have some very funny and contradictory ideas right now as a result of no one wanting to examine them. For example, Jon Doe brutally murders a family. He gets the death penalty and we must ensure that his death is quick and painless. Did he ensure that the deaths he committed were quick and painless? And what kind of a deterrent is death if it is going to be a as nice as being knocked unconscious?

I think it’s now pretty obviously true what people were suggesting in the month before elections. All of a sudden, gas, whose high prices had been a thorn in the side of the Republicans, took a dive in price. The truth (no conspiracy) is that Republicans are in bed with Big Oil. Bush and others own oil companies or are on their boards and stuff like that. The conspiracy was that the gas companies were helping them out by lowering prices. (They could afford to with the huge profits they were raking in that summer)

MSNBC predicts Democrats control the House of Representatives with anything from 7 to 47 seat majority. The Senate is nearly 50-50. This will leave us in a very interesting place where they will either need to get all bipartisan or nothing at all will get done. With the voting machines and their uncertainties I predict there will be massive calls for recalls. The Republicans will not just go out without a fight. And I don’t blame them - the democrats would do the same in their shoes.

Vote today!

The United Nations is 61 Years old today!

President Roosevelt’s dream, and a proper implementation of Woodrow Wilson’s Leage of Nations concept, was founded 61 years ago by 50 members, with 51 members when it finally opened up. Today it has 192 member states and has had both many failures and many successes. May it continue to prevent World War 3, while also providing help for its member states to overcome poverty and injustice in the world.

So, North Korea has tested a nuclear weapon, despite our warnings. It is now time to see if our threats have some backbone to them. Kim has continuously defied the world and has been rebuffed each time. Does he give a darn? No, because all we do is threaten sanctions over and over and threaten with talks. Despots do not respond to talks they respond to violence. We need to either sabotage their country and cause as peaceful a revolution as possible, or we need to attack. Although I hate war, we went into war in Iraq because they supposedly had nukes. Kim not only has nukes, but he is a nut and will probably sell nukes to his good friends in Iran. The world needs to stop being so pusillanimous.

The man who was in trouble last year for saying, “New Orleans, at the end of the day, will be a chocolate city….” is now in trouble for remarks he made last night on CBS’ 60 Minutes. The reporter asked him why, after a year, New Orleans was a mess. He replied, “Look, you guys in New York City can’t fix a hole in the ground, and it’s been five years. So let’s be fair.” The “hole in the ground” he referred to? The former site of the Twin Towers, also known as Ground Zero. Just like the chocolate city remark, which was meant to reflect tensions that aftrican americans may not have the money to return to New Orleans, this new remark is a great example of one of those things you may think to yourself or tell your close friends. However, it’s not something to say on Tv if you are a mayor, especially if you have a history of saying things people find offensive. Then again, he DID get reelected after his chocolate city remarks, so maybe it’s a noteriety thing which will benefit him in the end.

As the British (and even some Americans) begin discussing the possibility of racial profiling after this latest foiled airplane terrorism plot, we should remember that not all terrorists are Arabs or Middle-Eastern-looking. Take, for example, the worst terrorist attack in the US prior to the attacks of 11 Sept 2001 - The Oklahoma City Bombing. The terrorists in that plot, which blew up a federal building and killed many people, were white guys. In fact, although I was young at the time, I remember them saying in the news that they had delayed in capturing the guys and even had given them the chance to get away because they were looking for Arabs instead of white guys. So think about that before you start racial profiling. Also think of the DC Sniper - a black man. There are a lot of people who hate the US government or just like to kill people and they don’t all have “al” or “bin” in their name.

UK Police say they have stopped 21 suspects who were going to blow up a plane from the UK to the US. Effective immediately at Heathrow, people cannot take beverages, hand lotions, or USB thumb drives onto an airplane. What were these suicide bombers going to do? Get drunk, lather up, and throw USB sticks at everyone? More news after work. In the meanwhile check out Google News.