Did Obama Bite His Own Tongue?

Chaos has now hit Yemen and it’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh is blaming the U.S. president Barack Obama. The people have protested against their leader and demand that he leave office as soon as possible. “We hear statements from President (Barack) Obama asking the Egyptians to do this, telling the Tunisians to do that. Are you the president of the United States or the president of the Arab world?” said Saleh.

What does this say about our countries safety now? Sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani was under investigation for sending weapons to al Qaeda and tried to recruit millions of young men to fight against Israel. This man is running free and we don’t know what he is capable of. If he has a history of violence and if Saleh is blaming Obama, what does that mean for our country? Should we be prepared for another attack? Should our airports and immigration be tougher when it comes to tourist?

By trying to help other countries Obama got back fired by their ignorance. While Saleh is going off on Obama, the White House is on defense. “The protests in Yemen are not the product of external conspiracies. President Saleh knows better. His people deserve a better response.” said the U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has also commented and said, “”We’ve made clear to the leadership in Yemen, as we have to the leadership in other countries, that they need to focus on the political reforms that they need to implement to respond to the legitimate aspirations of their people,”.

The safety of this country depends on the actions from the middle east. Now all we can do is wait and see what is to come from the Middle East and the White House.

Foxy Knoxy

Recently it has been brought to my attention a particular true story about Amanda Knox, a Seattle native, who studied abroad to Italy. This story happened in 2007 but was recently brought up again on Lifetime with a movie about the events that happened on November 1, 2007. Amanda Knox is accused of killing her room mate Meredith Kercher who was a British girl who was also studying abroad.

Days after halloween Kercher was found brutally murdered in her room and what appeared to be a break in. She was found by the police with multiple stab wounds including a fatal cut to her throat, according to CNN.com/europe. She was half naked and found with a quilt over her body. It had looked as if there was a break in because papers were thrown everywhere and a window was broken into. Police investigated and confirmed that the break in was staged because the glass was on top of the clothes next to the window and if it had been an actual break in then the clothes would have been scattered around.

For a few days they had no leading suspects, but on the 3rd day they accused Rudy Guede, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito who were also lovers. Amanda Knox was Kercher’s room mate and her alibi was too suspicious. She said that she had noticed the door was open when she arrived home and did not find it strange and that she had also seen blood on the bathroom floor but did not think much of it. She then called her boyfriend Sollecito to come meet her at her house because something did not seem right. The police then arrived and found Kercher’s body on her bedroom floor.

For days and weeks, Knox and Sollecito kept to their story and pleaded not guilty. During the interrogations Sollecito confessed that he was not sure if he his girlfriend was with him the night of the murder because they were both stoned. Knox was then the prime suspect and the evidence and her personal life did not help her much. In her diary she had a list of all the men she had sexual intercourse with and from where she got HIV, according to the author if AngelFace, Barbie Latza Nadeau.

In trial she was found guilty of murder and sentenced with 26 years in prison, and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Whether Knox is guilty or not, she continues to hold her innocence and remains in the Italian prison.

This kind of experience can wither be a lesson or a warning. Parents and students always want to make sure they know the guidelines and rules about studying abroad. You never know who you will meet, and being far away from your close can make it more difficult. In Knox’s case, her freedom got to her and she became someone else, a lost college girl. A student must me emotionally and mentally prepared to be away from family for studies.

 

Shaking It Up in New Zealand

Breaking news on Monday, February 21, 2011, an earthquake with the magnitude of 6.3 hit the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. With the time difference, the earthquake happened Tuesday afternoon, New Zealand time. Due to the large earthquake, many people were unfortunately killed. Since the damage was so severe to the city, the number of victims is still unknown but the numbers do rise. People were killed because of buildings being collapsed, and buses being crumbled by all the residue. There were also cathedrals that were demolished by the earthquake, a 147 year old cathedral that was shaken to the floor which killed people that were inside. The Christchurch hospital was also evacuated and they were forced to close the airport according to Gavin Blowman, a CNN online reporter.

The damage continues on the streets of Christchurch and they have not seen as much damage since the earthquake of 1931.”Live video footage showed sections of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared” states Steve McMorran of the Associated Press.

The city was under complete chaos, the power lines were down and the telephones lines were also down. The streets were flooded because of the water pipes that were broken and cars were stuck under all the damages. Many people were stuck in the building of their offices and work space and had to be helped out by firefighters. One of the main worries about the earthquake was the fact that it was during the day where people were at work and children were at school, just another day in Christchurch.

The rescuing part is what they want to put their main focus on. Many people are trapped under buildings and cannot get out on their own. They have to wait patiently and most likely in pain for firefighters to come to the rescue and get them out before they die. The earthquake hit around 1 pm and was followed by multiple aftershocks. “New Zealand sits on the Pacific “ring of fire” – an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific. It records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year – but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year do any damage.” says McMorran of the reasons to why this would happen once again in New Zealand.

Hopefully everyone gets out okay and returns to their family safely. While there is no official count of the fatalities, many people are worried and anxious to know where their loved ones are. This brings up the issue of finding technology that can predict an earthquake before it hits. The tectonic plates below New Zealand have always been moving, it is no surprise they did it again. And if they had already had an earthquake a while ago, shouldn’t they have the proper building structure to secure the safety of everyone in those buildings?

And the Violence Continues…

 

It is no surprise that Mexico has suffered another violent attack, since it is headlined at least once a month. Since Felipe Calderon obtained the seat of President of Mexico in 2006, the toll of killed citizens has been at a high level of 34,600, 15,237 just in the past year 2010, according to Oscar Hidalgo of the New York Times. Mexico has been transporting drugs into the United States and other countries for years now and no president has ever had the will power to stand up against the drug cartels and put a stop to it. Not until Felipe Calderon came to office of course.

In Mexican politics there are two essential parties, one might say it is like the republicans and democrats. Well Felipe Calderon is part of PAN, which stands for National Action Party, according to http://www.presidencia.gob.mx, the Mexican government website. The other party is said to be one of the first political party in Mexico, it is known as the PRI, National Revolution Party. Because the president of part of PAN, the government of PRI are taking advantage of the scrutiny from the public and are convincing voters for the next election in 2012 to vote for PRI. Felipe Calderon promised change to come with his run for president, although he did what was promised, it did not work in his favor. Most of the drug cartels had already felt that they were in control of Mexico and that may have been the reason why they fought against the laws of Felipe Calderon. Since he was elected, he decided to have not only the police force but also the military stop the cartels,  according to Hidalgo. Since the violence spread all over Mexico including cities close to the border, the United States decided to get in between and help as much as the could. “In October 2010, the government announced that it was preparing a plan to radically alter the nation’s police forces, hoping not only to instill a trust the public has never had in them but also to choke off a critical source of manpower for organized crime. It would all but do away with the nation’s 2,200 local police departments and place their duties under a ‘unified command.'” said Hidalgo.

The drug cartels have a very dangerous and clear way of trying to send messages to the Mexican government and their president. They attack innocent people and have access to weapons that not even the Mexican army can get their hands on. The violence has taken over the safety of the streets in Mexico. People are afraid to be kidnapped and held for ransom, or have a grenade thrown at their direction. This is the way the drug cartels are telling the President that even if he send his military or his police that they will not back down and they still want the power that they once had. Of course this is not a proven fact but it is confessed by some drug cartel leaders that have been caught like Edgar Valdez Villarreal also known as La Barbie.

Unfortunately another act of violence occurred on Sunday February 20th, 2011. Before the Mexican Open Tennis Tournament in Acapulco, the slaying of 12 taxi drivers took place in front of the resorts and on the streets. It was rumored that the taxi drivers somehow had been helping the drug cartels by transporting the drugs and taking them to where their enemies lived because they have also taken them home. Once the cartels knew about this they raged across Acapulco killing the taxi drivers. Some were shot in the face and head while others were cut in the throat by machetes. Two suspects have been caught, one with the machete a gun and a grenade. Many of the players are concerned because they do not want to be part of the violence in Mexico, only part of the game of tennis.

Oh no! Not Anderson Cooper!

It all began when the people of Egypt decided to get together and riot the streets until their president Hosni Mubarak came down from his throne. The autocratic president has had his title of president since October 21st 1981 and even though protestors plead that he resign, he made it clear that in the September 2011 election he was going to run against anyone and keep his name as president. In an attempt to please the protestors, he promised to reform the constitution but since that isn’t what the people want, the riots continue. On friday January 28th, 2011 the protesters became more angry when a top official officer of the U.N. Mohammed ElBaradei went to Cairo in attempts to become the new leader of the protestors was put under house arrest. That only made the people angrier and increase the violence and disruption. Because the people of Egypt have yet to show signs of their resignation, Mubarak was forced to flee the country and be exiled.

New rules have began in Egypt that were made in an attempt to keep the safety of the people. Internet access has been terminated in efforts to keep the media out of the problems that they have been facing and trying to avoid criticism. Cairo and other cities were put in effect of a curfew of  6PM until 7AM, after the violence increased the curfew has been enforced nation wide.

Trying to help solve the problem, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs challenges Mubarak and officially said “Now means now.”  President Obama has witnessed the events happening to innocent people in Egypt and declares that he wants to see change also. People from Egypt are claiming that they are being harassed by the government and basically being pushed to act violently while it makes them look as if they were the savages and the government the victims.

As always Anderson was just trying to “save the world” and deliver the news to us in America. He and his camera crew made a trip to Egypt right in the middle of all the chaos and began filming. As he said in his own words, “it was pandaemonium”. As they began filming they were showing all the violence and chaos in Egypt. All the innocent people and the crazy people who have driven to cause all this destruction because of the horrible government that isn’t even well represented. While filming, he and his crew were attacked in the street of Egypt and it was all recorded and on tape. Luckily he nor the rest of his crew were seriously hurt but they did have a horrible beating. All the events were recorded and captured on tape and brought over to CNN for everyone to see and witness all the madness that was happening. Because the media is banned getting in and out, Anderson Cooper brought evidence to the United States as a sign that we must get involved and help out the innocent people since their leader is hiding somewhere with his tail between his legs.

Does this only bring fear to those who want to travel to the middle east? Since the terrorist attacks, the middle east has been under scrutiny and now with the protest, doesn’t it seem too dangerous to go? With all that is going on, the tourism in the middle east can really go down and can effect our their economy as well as ours. Because of these protest, our oil prices have gone up as well as airplane tickets. The barrel for oil now cost $90.64 , Not only should they bring peace to their country but to everyone else around them.