Every time I go to church, I hope to praise and worship God. I want to learn something new about my religion and leave feeling uplifting. I do not want to go to church and listen to my preacher talk about politics. I believe that churches should not speak about politics or endorse a certain candidate. I believe that by doing this, you may push away some of the members of the church. A church should be a welcoming place to anyone who wants to walk in. By talking about politics, it could mess up the openness of the organization. I hope that as the elections nears, that these religious organizations will take a stand by not discussing these candidates on the pulpit.

Palin links 9/11 to iraq

Governor Palin made a statement linking 9/11 to Iraq while giving a speech to soldiers bound to Iraq. This is a problem that is still carrying on today. There is no link between 9/11 and Iraq. We do know that Saddam Hussein was a horrible person, but he did not plan and carry out the attacks. President Bush once believed that Iraq was behind 9/11, but has come out and said this information was wrong. This just shows the inexperience that Governor Palin has with common foreign policy. Al-Qaeda was behind this attack and not the country of Iraq. This is just one of the reasons why I am against the start of the War in Iraq.

No Choice Palin

There is a lot of talk dealing with the choice of Governor Palin pulling some of the Hilary Clinton supporters her way. I don’t think that could happen because Governor Palin does not support women’s rights. She is totally against a woman’s right to choose what to do when she gets pregnant. Governor Palin is quoted saying that abortion should only happen if the mother’s life is in endangered. Palin also said that if her own daughter was raped, she would want her daughter to carry the baby to term. Governor Palin is strongly against having sex education in schools. She wants abstinence only sex education even though the statistics shows that abstinence education has no affect on the teens. This nation needs sex education in our schools. We need to have a dual abstinence and sex education program. This nation needs to teach our young people that you should wait to have sex, but if you do, use a condom. According to National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, every day 10,000 U.S. teens contract a sexually transmitted disease, 2,400 get pregnant and 55 contract HIV. I believe that statistic alone should be the reason why every single school teaches sex education. I believe if we had more sex education, that the rate of abortion would drop. I think everyone would like to see that number drop. Vote for women rights, vote for Obama

When the troops donate

I believe that if you haven’t served in the war, you really don’t know what is happening over seas. We each have our own opinion about what should happen with the war. The troops are the only ones who know how the war is progressing. Recently, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics did an analysis of campaign contributions made by troops who were overseas when they made there contributions. The analysis shows that the troops gave 6 times more to Barack Obama over John McCain. Even Ron Paul, who is anti-war, received four times more money then John McCain. As we all know, Obama wants to make a plan to withdraw most of the troops, and McCain does not want to withdraw the troops. I think it says a lot that the troops are giving money to a candidate who wants to pull the troops out and to another candidate who is totally anti-war. The troops know what is best for this country, and it seems like they think Barack Obama is right for this country. Obama 08!

Reading

Now that I am starting my junior year at MTSU, I understand why the school system made me read books when I was younger. Reading books is the best way to learn new words and to have fun while you do it. My mom forced me to read one of the Harry Potters book when I was younger. Since then, I have read all those book and I am now reading other books on my own. I hope that more parents are like mine, and make your kids read books, it will help them out in the long run. I am going to try to read atleast three books a semester, starting with Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope." So I hope that more young people will pick up a book, it could change your life

The Death Penalty

Here are some statistics about the death penalty:

Executions cost more then life sentences. It costs 2 million per person on death row vs. $500,000 per person that is sentenced to life.

The innocent could be executed. Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, 82 inmates have been freed from death row. That is 1 person to be found innocent for every 7 executed.

The government says that killing someone is wrong, but the government is doing the exact same thing they say not to do. So the government is basically saying, “Do what I say, not as I do.”

So if you want the government to spend less money, you should be against the death penalty. It will save money, have fewer appeals, and save innocent lives.

Autism is real

I was shocked when I heard that syndicated talk show host Michael Savage said 99 percent of autism cases is a brat that hasn’t been told to cut the act out. I can’t believe that a man of his stature believes that autism is a fraud. Autism is very real, so real that 1 out of 150 people children are diagnosed with autism. Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (autismspeaks.org). Last summer I worked with two autistic kids for four weeks. I can guarantee you that they were not brats who needed to cut the act out. These children had a real disorder, and needed help. On September 13, 2008, there will be a fundraising event at the Nashville Speedway. Walk Now for Autism is a family walk and fair to raise awareness about autism. Also, Walk Now for Autism is an event to raise money for the ongoing research on autism. I ask all of you to look up this event and walk to raise money. I will be there that day, and hope to see many or you there.

Thank you myspace

Everytime I get on the computer, I always check all the regular news sites. A few days ago I saw that there was an amber alert and read what was going on. Later on that day, I logged onto myspace, and the same amber alert was right there on myspace. Myspace uses the information that is on your profile to send out amber alerts that are in your area. I think this is a great idea and I hope that other social networking sites will follow Myspace and add the amber alert. With the way more and more young people are using these sites, we could locate and save many more missing children.

We are not whiners

For the first time in years, the Iraq war isn’t the most important issue in this election. The most important issue for the voters is the economy. With the price of gas and other food rising, the voters want to see something different this next presidential election. Phil Gramm, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, said that the American people who believe the economy is the most important issue are whiners. Mr. Gramm thinks that we are in a “mental recession” and we are a “nation of whiners.” If we are in a “mental recession”, why is the dollar the lowest we have seen in years? Why are prices of eggs up 45% in the past year? Phil Gramm has insulted the 44 percent of Americans who think that the economy is the most important issue in this election. I do not think we are a nation of whiners, but an intelligent nation who knows when something is going wrong in our country. I hope that the next president will have the answers to these economic problems.

Patriotism

If I do not wear a flag pin, does that make me unpatriotic?
If I sit and enjoy the star spangled banner without my hand on my chest, does that make me unpatriotic?
How can someone who is running for president of The United States of America be unpatriotic? How can someone give up so much of his life to be president, and not care about this country? When people say that Barack Obama is unpatriotic, I loose respect for those people because they actually believe those ludicrous statements. A flag pin does not show how patriotic you are to your country. Standing up for what you believe is right for this country, is patriotic. So I ask you, have you been patriotic lately? I show my patriotism every Sunday here in The Tennessean.

GI BILL

I am a Student Orientation leader at MTSU, which is a person who helps with the freshman orientation. I was very excited to see someone who was enrolling through the GI Bill in my group. I am very happy that this man served his country and now is going to go to school for free. I hope that many of our servicemen and women will take part in the GI Bill and go to school for free. I think the GI Bill is a great way to thank our them for the work they have done. I hope that we can expand the GI Bill to offer more money and more benefits for our soldiers.

Stimulus Check loophole

When I heard that the government was going to give out stimulus checks, I was very excited. I made over 7,000 dollars last year, which is 4,000 dollars over the minimum. I was looking forward to that check, and was going to put some of that money back in the economy. I soon found out that I am stuck in a loophole. Since I still depend on my parents, I am still filed under my parent’s taxes. Because of that, I do not receive any money. So that leaves me receiving nothing for the work that I did all year, while other people are receiving their checks. Also, my parents do not receive extra money for filing me on their taxes. The government has missed a vital part of the country, the young people. These are the people who are going to be the next leaders of the world, and the government forgot them. I am very disappointed that a program like this has missed so many deserving people. I know that many of my friends would have taken the money and spent it right away, putting more money into our economy. I hope that next time the government has a plan like this, that they remember all the young people out there.

Tax Cuts

Some critics are saying that Barack Obama wants to tax the poor. Let me throw a few facts out there about both candidates that I found in The Tennessean on June 12(Tax plans offer middle-income families a $1,000 break)

- Both candidates want to reduce taxes for the middle class by $1,000
- Families in the lowest 20 percent of income ($19,000) would have a $567 tax cut under Obama’s plan but only a $19 cut from McCain’s plan

- Families in the top 1 percent of income ($ 603,000) would have to pay over $100,000 under Obama’s plan but would get a $45,000 dollar tax cut from McCain’s plan.
- Both plans would add to the national debt, but McCain’s plan would cost 1.3 trillion dollars more than Obama’s plan.

Obama is not going to tax the poor like some critics are saying. These statistics come from The Tax Policy Center.

"Low- and middle-income taxpayers would undoubtedly be paying lower taxes under the Obama plan," said Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center.

The DREAM Act, immigration reform

There are many illegal immigrants who were brought to this country at a very young age. I believe that these immigrants should have a chance at legal status. This is why I support the DREAM Act, which is a legislation that would allow long-term illegal immigrants a chance at applying for legal status. These students would have to have a clean criminal record and go to college for two years or serve in the military for two years. It would take these students at least six years until they would be able to apply to be a permanent residence. I believe that this should be one of the many changes in the process of immigration reform. We should not blame these young people who want to go on to college and do something with their lives. If you agree with this, please search the DREAM Act, and e-mail your state representative and tell them to support the DREAM Act.

Lottery Scholarship

Let me say that I am very pleased with the results of the House and Senate agreeing to lower the GPA requirement for the lottery scholarship. Students can now have a 2.75 until their junior year and a 3.0 their senior year to keep their scholarship. A 2.75, a B-minus, is still doing really well in college. When many of these students graduate, they will go into the workforce. Many employers will not care what GPA you graduated with, but with the activities and work experience that you did during school. If I was hiring someone, I would rather hire someone with more work experience than someone who had a higher GPA. By lowering this requirement, more people will stay in school and get a college degree. I am glad that the state is going to use all the excess money in something that will educate and help many students go on to live great lives. Let me take this chance and thank all the Senate and House members for all the work that you put into this bill! Thank you!

Christianity

Do you want to know why I am turning away from Christianity? Christians! I have received many e-mails stating that I am going to have “eternal consequences” and that I am not a Christian. I thought being a Christian is accepting that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. After these past weeks, it seems that I am wrong. Basically, people are telling me I am going to hell because of my personal opinions on issue like same-sex marriage and abortion. Every time I receive an e-mail, I am stepping farther and farther away from Christianity. These people need to learn that you cannot convert me by telling me I am going to go to hell. If you want to try and convert someone, you need to respect the person you are talking to. I just thought I would let these people know, that you are doing a great job turning people away from religion.

Muslims and Christians

This next coming week is Islam Awareness Week at MTSU. A friend of mine who I met on my volunteering trip to Chicago is the president of Muslim Student Association. I am very excited to attend some of the events that she and her organization are putting on. I get really get upset when people want to protest Muslims in general? People base their judgments off radical Muslim in the Middle East. They portray all Muslim hating all Americans and Jews. People will tell stories of different Muslims doing horrible things. I can tell you the same amount of things that Christians do that aren’t right. I read a story about 10 Christians who attacked a Jewish couple because they wished them a Happy Hanukah. Luckily, a Muslim teenager stepped in a saved the Jewish couple from being beaten to death. See, I can play the same game as everyone does and tell you stories from the other side. You can’t base your judgments off of news stories. Of course, the news is going to portray the worst of the worst. What I have learn about Christianity is that God is the only one who can judge, so why is everyone judging these other religions. You are not God, or anywhere close to him! There are many Muslims out there; some that you don’t even know are Muslims. Let’s break down these stereotypes between these religions. I have been best friends with Muslims for years now; it has opened me up to a whole new interesting culture. I challenge each one of you, go out and learn something new.

Abortion

Every six minutes a woman dies because of an UNSAFE abortion.  There are many women dying in other countries because abortion is illegal. The number of woman dying would increase dramatically if the USA decided to ban abortion. Abortion is the right of the woman and should always be. The numbers show that each year 1/3 of all pregnancies are unplanned and 1/4 of pregnant women decide to abort. This should be a right to every woman! This issue doesn't deal with morality or anything of that sort, it deals with a woman's right to choose!

Gay Marriage

What if you couldn’t marry the person you love? This is happening to many people in the United States of America because they happened to love someone of the same gender. Gay marriage should be legal and they should have the exact same rights as men and women who are in love. I always hear that you should always treat people equal, so why can't we treat these couples equal? I hope that I will be able to see my friends marry the person they love. 

The Iraq War in numbers

Here are the cold hard facts about the Iraq War.
3,989 Soldiers Killed

29,395 Soldiers seriously wounded

12 Billion dollars spent every month in Iraq
$390,000 -Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq

190,000 guns lost in Iraq

127 journalists killed

8,009 Iraqi police killed
Is all the deaths worth it? Is it worth all the money spent, and all the lives that have been forever changed? I don’t think so. This war will never end. Because of George W. Bush, we are always going to have troops in Iraq.

We need SEX education

The CDC recently conducted a study and found that 1 in 4 teenage girls are infected with some type of STD. That is equal to 3.2 million teenage girls nation wide. Also, in some places, 1 in 3 girls will become pregnant by the age of 20. That is an outrageous number when we have so many resources that we do not use properly. We need to abolish the Abstinence only sex education that is being taught in our school districts. Teenagers need to be taught about sex from a professional rather than learning the wrong information from their friends. I believe this would decrease the numbers of STDs, teen pregnancy, and even abortion. We also need help from the parents of teenagers. The teenagers need someone they can openly talk to. Many teenagers are afraid to talk about sex to their parents in fear that they will be punished. I believe if we had sex education in schools and help from the community that we can beat this problem together. 

My spring break

While many college students are in Florida getting tans and partying, I decided to spend it volunteering. This spring break, I spent a week in Chicago giving back to the community. I am here with MTSU's Alternative Spring Break program doing various activities around the city, including beach clean up, visiting an assisted living community and working in the Chicago Food Depository. My favorite activity was working with inner city kids at the Chicago Boys and Girls club.  Programs like these are a refreshing change from the disturbances of their outside environment. These programs keep these kids out of trouble by providing fun activities inside and helping the kids with their homework. This has been a very beneficial trip for me as well as the other students of this trip. We all wish that we could stay longer and further help this community. I hope that we can bring this same spirit back to Murfreesboro and disprove the stereotypical nonexistent role of college students in the community and their lack of care for it. Hopefully this experience has had the same effect on the others in this group as it has had on me.

My presidential prediction

I hope that in the next coming month that we (the democrats) can decide on a candidate to run for president. I think that this close race is hurting the democrat side. As a democrat, I am getting tired of the same old debates about the same issues. I am ready for the main debates between the republican nominee and the democrat nominee. My opinion is that Barack Obama is going to get the nomination sooner or later. I hope that in this next primary that Barack Obama will win again, and Hillary Clinton will see that she is losing momentum. I predict that Barack Obama will get the nomination and become the next the president of The United States. I do truly believe that Barack Obama will bring change to this nation. The American people want something new, and that is what they will get when they elect Barack Obama. Barack Obama has my vote and I know he has many other young people’s vote!

Customs should not search media devices!

Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed suit against the department of Customs and Boarder Protection for "lengthy questioning and intrusive searchers." There have been many instances where Customs has gone into people's personal computer and even made people tell them their passwords to get into their computer. I think that is too far! There is too much personal information stored on computer such as bank records, personal photos, personal e-mail and even financial information for different companies. I read an article on CNN about an individual who has flown into the states and on five different occasions the Customs officials have gone through his laptop. It just happens to be that he is of Pakistani background and he think that is why he is being searched so many times. He is an IT consultant who travels around the world and could have very sensitive information on his computer. I think that Customs should stop these searches. They do not have the right to go into someone's personal computer. They have all the right to look at it and make sure it's not a bomb and look through all the luggage, but once you have logged on to the computer, I believe they have gone too far. I hope this man wins this suit, and Customs stops the practice of going through computers and other media devices.

After the tragic events at Virginia Tech, many schools including MTSU added an emergency text message service. It finally came into effect when I feel asleep on Tuesday. About 2 am, I received a text message from MTSU stating, “CAMPUS ALERT Tornado warning, take shelter immediately." My roommates were awoken by the tornado siren that was blaring in Murfreesboro. I just want to say that I am very impressed with MTSU and their emergency text message service. I feel very safe knowing that if anything happens on campus, that I will be notified within minutes.

Free Health Care

I am currently a sophomore at MTSU. I have been sick this week and had to go the MTSU health services to get a note to prove to my teachers I sick. I went in, talked with a nurse, they checked my vitals and made sure I was alright. I went to the counter after the checkup to get something copied and that was it. I was shocked, I asked the women there if I needed to do anything else, and she said no. First thing I did was call my mom and said I got a free checkup. I couldn't believe that didn't charge me at least ten dollars. I know that I pay fees for school and that lets me go get a free check up but it felt good.
Why can't everyone have the opportunity to go to doctor when they are sick.

------------

The media picks the president, not the voters

The only way that many people learn about the candidates is through the TV and the newspaper. I believe that the media covers more people other than others. A prime example is John Edwards, who just dropped out of the presidential race. Every time I turn on TV, all I hear is about Obama or Clinton. If the media does not put your name out there, people wont vote for you. I remember in the last election when the media took advantage of Howard Dean. He was just giving a really powerful speech. The media took a little peace of the speech out of context and made him seem like he was crazy. After that, he slipped out the polls and he dropped out of the race.
I love to watch CNN and keep up with the politics on TV and the internet and I have only heard about Ron Paul once! Ron Paul raised a lot of money through online donations, but the media never picked him up. Today was the Republican debate, and the CBS did minute recap of the debate. They showed everyone but Ron Paul. I would just like to see if John Edwards and Ron Paul would of done differently if they were in the media more like the other candidates.


- work in progress--

Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday is quickly approaching and I hope that everyone else is excited as I am about this chance to vote. I am only 19 years old; I did not get a chance to vote in the last presidential election and I am ready to vote for the candidate I want to run this country. I want everyone, young and old, to go to the polls on February 5. I would particularly would love to see a huge turnout in young voters like we saw in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire. The young voters in this country can change this election dramatically. There were 4.6 million more young voters (under the age of 30) that voted in the 2004 election then there were in the 2000 election. The young voters favored the democrat side, and I personally believe that will be the case this election.
This super Tuesday will be able to show us who the clear front runners are in the republican feild and just confuse more people in the democrat side.

The greatest gift is giving.

I just watched a news story about a bank in North Dakota that gave its employees 1,000 dollars to give away to anyone they wanted to. For me, I love to give back to the community and volunteer. It makes me feel so much better after I have done that. I wish that I could have money and document the money that I give away. Maybe one day I can start a "giving blog", that will keep up with the people and their stories that I gave money to. I think that would be a great experience for me. It would make me so happy and allow me to meet so many wonderful people. I am a very caring person and would love to make someone's day or week by giving them a little gift to carry then on. If for some reason you are reading my blog and know someone who would like to give me money,let me know. I know this concept is nearly impossible but it would be amazing to videotape it and write about it. Maybe i can throw this concept around to people and give money away by using advertising the company's name. That's all it takes for some company to donate 100 dollars or so. Maybe years from now I can come back to this concept and do it. Until next time, be safe, be informed, and blog!

Young Voters

Calling All College Students! Calling all college students! You need to register to vote! You need to get ready to choose the next president of the United States of America! Your vote counts! I hope this next election in November will draw out many teenagers. I think we(teenagers) can change to presidential election by our votes. If somehow we could get so many teens to vote, it would make me happy. If my candidate lost because of the overwhelming young voters, I will be happy. It saddens me to hear people say they are not going to vote. Then, they will go around and complain about the president. I will vote, and I hope that I can persuade other people to vote. This is going to be the closest election is some time, and everyone needs to be heard!