President Bush on "Deal or No Deal"

President Bush gave new meaning to the term "lame duck" when he made an appearance on the popular game show "Deal or No Deal". His recorded message was a surprise to the contestant who served in Iraq three times and was a Purple Heart recipient. The message, which was recorded at the White House, was used to encourage the contestant and wish him luck and for President Bush to thank him for his military services.

It was a surprise to see the President appearing on a game show during his lame duck period. This term is typically applied to politicians serving their final term in office. Recently much of the media's attention has been focused on the primary election, particularly between the Democrat candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. President Bush hasn't been featured in the news nearly as much as any of the main candidates.

Green Is In

Environmental consciousness is the latest trend in American life. From coast to coast, the country with a historical reputation for being obscenely wasteful has caught the conservation bug, which manifests itself in several forms, such as buying energy-saving light bulbs, driving hybrid cars, and voicing concern over climate change’s effect on wild animal species like polar bears. The latest object of the green craze’s affection is the narwhal, a horned species of whale that scientists recently concluded is even more threatened by global warming than the polar bear, the current mascot of the “go green” movement.

Will America’s sudden fascination and respect for the natural world last, or is it just the latest pop culture fad, destined to exist the public sphere as quickly as it entered like so many others that have come before? The country’s huge media hype machine is great at saturating an issue with obsessive coverage before quickly and unceremoniously dropping it in favor of the “next big thing.” The possibility of the green craze suffering this fate is very real. Certain wild animals – narwhals, polar bears, penguins, and Al Gore – are praying otherwise. If the movement dies, they may very well disappear along with it.

Illegal Workforce

A study by the U.S. State Department that was released today suggests that a proposed federal law requiring employers to fire employees whose names and Social Security numbers do not match will cost employers up to $1 billion per year, and cost legal employees who get fired due to administrative records errors up to $37 billion as a whole. This is another example of how dependent many companies in the U.S. are on illegal immigrant labor, and why passing significant immigration reform proposals is almost impossible to do. Companies with a large undocumented workforce oppose any attempts to either crack down on illegal immigration or improve illegal workers’ rights, because either scenario means the company will lose lots of money. No matter what you think about the whole illegal immigration debate—whether the immigrants are criminal trespassers that should be deported, or well-meaning workers just looking for a chance to succeed in life—it is hard to argue that, at least for the time being, illegal labor is a huge part of the U.S. economy. To get rid of it—by either deporting the illegals or granting them legal status and thereby increasing their pay—would hurt the economy deeply. That would be a terrible thing, since it is already close to a recession. For the economy, no news on immigration reform is good news.

Hillary's Big Win

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton gained a much needed boost in the Democratic Primary when she won Pennsylvania. Analysts say that this win was crucial in order to stay a competitive candidate in the election. This win couldn't have come at a better time as Clinton was running low on campaign funding. At the end of March, "the campaign revealed that at the end of March it had just over $9 million in the bank and $10 million in debt". Her victory instantly resulted in numerous donations. Claiming it was the best fundraising day ever, Clinton recieved nearly $10 million dollars by the middle of today, many via the internet.

Although this has given Clinton some momentum in her campaign she still trails behind Sen. Barack Obama. Obama has recieved larget amounts of funding through campaign websites. Both sides will have to turn their attention to beyond the primary in order to be able to take on Sen. McCain.

Polygamist Fashion

Since the breaking of the polygamist scandal, not a day has gone by that the story wasn't featured in the news. Many of the interviews featured women from the Texan church of LDS. Their appearance is very outdated, similar to farm wear from the 19th century. The women's bodies are almost completely covered by long pastel dresses with sleeves and high collars. Their hair is long with rolled bangs, which they wear down or in a bun. According to an anthropologist from Lyndon State College in Vermont, LDS women cover their bodies in order to appear unattractive to other men. The pastel colors are meant to evoke a sense of femininity. They don't cut their hair because they believe they will eventually use it to wash the feet of Christ.

Such fashion seems very dated compared to what is usually seen in the media. With this polygamist scandal getting so much attention, their look is in the media daily. Because their look is so outdated it makes it more difficult for the public to understand the LDS lifestyle and causes them to seem drastically different from ourselves.

UN Address

Pope Benedict addressed the United Nations today in New York City to talk about the need for international cooperation and diplomacy to deal with world crises, instead of resorting to violence and unilateral action (or inaction). Above all, the Pope said, respect for human rights is the key to solving many of the world’s problems, such as genocide and political oppression. This is a familiar stance for a pope to take. Respect for human rights and liberties are central to the Church’s mission. During the Cold War, the Church under Pope John Paul II was very active in speaking out against Communism and the human rights violations and political abuses of Communist governments. Pope Benedict also mentioned the need to protect the environment, which is a relatively new focus of the Church and many other religious denominations.

Pope Benedict’s plea for international cooperation was driven by his view that too many of the biggest decisions in the world are being made by a few of the most powerful nations, without thinking about the impact on smaller countries and populations. He did not directly mention the United States directly, although the U.S. and the Vatican have been at odds in recent years over some major foreign policy decisions. It can be assumed that the U.S. was one of the targets of Pope Benedict’s criticism.

The Pope Meets Abused Victims

Today, the Pope prayed with families and victims who have been affected by the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. The pope stated that the scandal has greatly hurt the mainstream view of the Church.

The website bishop accountability allows the browser to look up priests who are sexual offenders by dioceses or name. Since I attended a Catholic School until high school I eagerly looked up priests in my area to see if anyone looked familar. Although I didn't recognize any of the 16 priests in the Diocese of Sacramento, two of them were from schools nearby, where league sporting events were held. I was surprised that priests who are known molesters would be assigned to a church that has a parish school. This website was helpful in listing priests and their offenses, whereabouts, and parishes, quite similar to Megan's Law.