"Keeping College Students From the Polls"

Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/keeping-college-students-from-the-polls.html?_r=2

I just have a quick commentary about this. Even if Political leaders are trying to limit college students from using their campus addresses to vote, I think we need to also remind students that through the use of Absentee Ballots their voices can still be heard. So, even if they try to silence college students, who are more likely to vote liberally than conservatively, they can still make a difference, since every vote does count.

Lybian Protests Continue

The Libyan protests and fighting have gone on for almost one month now.  At this point there seems to be no end in sight.  Rebels are taking over various parts of the country, while the government-backed militia is fighting to regain control of the country and have also gained control of various other parts of the country. Other parts are still being fought over and their control is still unknown. As of March 6^th, there is word that the fighting might become a civil war between the citizens and the government-backed militia. 

President Gaddafi has continued to refuse to step down and is denying his involvement in any of the attacks against his people, yet there is no proof of Gaddafi trying to stop the attacks on his people.  Gaddafi is continuing to claim the only reason his people are uprising against him is because of Al-Qaeda poising his people with pills and other drugs.  Gaddafi also claims that other countries only want control of his country for the oil and would in turn enslave his people, once they have control over his country.

Presidents of countries, including the U.S.A., are continuing to condemn Gaddafi for his refusal to stop the attacks on his people.  Counties are also freezing assets to the President and others of his inner circle.  There is also talks of a placing a possible no-fly zone on Libya.

Gaddafi must first stop the attacks against his people.  He must show proof that he wants the fighting to end, by at least opening talks with opposition leaders or step down and allow a new government to take hold of the country. Gaddafi must also take note of the actions by former presidents of other countries and begin the work of trying to end the unrest in his country before it is too late.

Protests continue…

This time I am not referring to the events that occurred in Egypt that ended with Hosni Mubarak stepping down.  I am referring to the events occurring across Northern Africa and the Middle East. Protesters in Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, and Yemen are all calling for their leaders to step down and for democracy to make its way in.  People are finally finding their voices and want to be heard.

In Bahrain, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa was condemned by President Obama for his violent response to the protesters.  Later, the crown took steps to show restraint towards protesters by allowing them back into Manama's Pearl Square without military or police intervention. This was all in hopes of initiating a line of dialogue with the protesters to help find some middle ground. 

In Libya, the government continues to show violence towards the protesters.  The death toll has reached almost 100 people, yet there seems to be no end to the violence. According to witnesses, the military and police are using machine guns and missiles,  rather than simple weapons. What makes things worse is the government is trying to stop the information about what is happening from getting out.  But, their citizens are still finding ways of getting their voices heard because they know the world needs to know.

In Algeria, police are separating protesters into groups, possibly to prevent the reform movement from growing too large.  The government is promising to lift their 19-year old state of emergency by the end of the month, but time will only tell if they will do the right thing.  They are also keeping the police and protesters clashes as peaceful and humane as possible. 

In Yemen, protesters called for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, after his 30 year reign. The protesters are demanding change because of their poverty levels and the possibility of their country being a  haven for al-Qaeda.  There are also growing opposition movements that could rip the country apart if changes are not made soon.

All of these events can be considered, as my close friend puts it, a "domino effect."  For those who might be reading this and do not know what that is; the "domino effect," is when a small change occurs in one place, causing a similar change in a nearby place.  This continues in a somewhat linear fashion, until there is no where else to go.  Hopefully, through the coming days of protests the countries choose to continue a peaceful response to their citizens actions.

Side Note: I know there are other countries, like Kuwait, Iran, Tunisia, and Morocco, that are currently protesting for reforms or have successful completed their protests.  If they are not yet successful, I am sure as current events are showing, they will be successful in the future.

History in the Making...

I am glad that I waited until today to write about Egypt.

Hosni Mubarak chose to step down after his 30 year presidential "reign" in Egypt.  Many Egyptian citizens have been hoping for this in the past few weeks. Mubarak originally promised that he would not run again in September, but would remain in office until then.  This was not what the citizens wanted. The citizens were clear and they wanted change. They did not want seven more months of a President that they could not trust.

If it wasn't for the peaceful actions of the protesters,and the military, Mubarak could have chosen to stay in office stating instability as a reason to remain until September. But the citizens kept their cool and made their message clear; Mubarak must go.

When Mubarak announced his resignation, an explosion of celebration was heard all around Cairo and other cities in Egypt.  The citizens voices were finally heard, they wanted change and they achieved it.

The speech President Obama made today truly covers the aspect of what occurred in Egypt.  President Obama stated that "There are very few moments in our lives that we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times."

There is no other words to explain what happened in Egypt, except "history taking place."

Romania's New Tax

This story is a little old, but I saw a small article in the Metro newspaper and thought it was interesting.

Romania is currently working on a tax on those considered "self-employed." In the past, the government chose not to tax this group, but has recently decided to start looking into this option. This group includes witches, fortunetellers, and astrologers. The new law caused two different reactions from the groups being affected. Some believed the law was a good idea because it would be a legal recognition of their profession in the country.  Others are angry because the country would be taxing the already small earnings that they are making.  Some of those who are angry are even threatening to curse the government and those politicians trying to get the bill passed.

This is an interesting occurrence because one of the factors that brought about this new tax was to help prevent the groups from lying to customers about the truth of their gift. I doubt this tax will work, in this respect, because there will always be people pretending to have the gift and their only gift is knowing how to trick people out of their hard earned money.  If the con-artists cannot trick people out of their money this way, they will just find another way in time and make a different group of people suffer for their actions.

Time will only tell, if this new law will be good for the country or not.  It might help the country financially, but the other question is how will it effect the country socially?

Introduction

First off, the title of my blog came from a Barbara Hall quote from 2000. 

I've been trying to figure out how to finally start my first blog and decided to just jump into it. I'm still trying to figure out what topic to focus on, so I've decided to Look for something interesting to write about...Listen to information on the topic...Choose my side....and Act by publishing an entry on it. That's the best way to describe the title I've chosen for this blog. In time there will be consistency in the topics, but for now enjoy the random jumps between topics.
 
Let's see where it goes from here.