Should the US be Involved in Libya?

      On Monday President Obama gave a speech concerning operation in Libya and American involvement. I personally think that he is walking a tight rope of too much presence there. However as of right now I think he is on the right path. I agree with him that our military forces along with other countries are need to enforce a UN sanctioned no fly zone to help prevent civilian casualties. Muammar Gaddafi has shown presently and past he will stop at nothing to maintain power. He has a long history of human rights violations and being extremely restrictive of personal freedoms in Libya. I think he has proven himself in the past to be a little on the crazy side by decreeing all his body guards be female virgins(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1192494/More-make-hair-dye-40-virgin-bodyguards-Gaddafi-murderous-menace.html) giving a lecture about how Europe should convert to Islam to 500 women he paid (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Europe-should-convert-to-Islam-Gaddafi/articleshow/6464781.cms), claiming Israel was responsible for JFK's assassination, and many other bits of craziness. I can't blame the rebels for wanting him out. It seems like he has always just kind of wanted to pick fights with foreign countries at the expense of his own people. For instance he supported Mengistu Haile Mariam,who was later convicted of genocide, at the cost of losing 600 of his own troops. I don't think we need ground presence there but along with other countries we can't just stand by and watch him massacre innocent civilians. Besides that just today NATO took over air operations and our CIA operatives are working with them ,and apparently have had a presence in Libya for some time. Obama seems to be following the U.N. Security Council Resolution of 1973 which allows the member states to take all necessary measures, excluding a foreign occupation, to protect civilians under the threat of attack from Libya. I think in the near future Gaddafi will be forced in to exile but it won't come easy or without support of other nations.

O Henry!

     Henry Rollins is best known for being the front man for the influential punk band Black Flag. He is also an activist,actor,spoken word artist, and now blogger, among other things. He has traveled the world over and seen things other people can only dream of or have nightmares of. His opinions are not sugar coated and I personally LOVE that. In his blog from Vanity Fair, named Straight Talk Espresso he gives his opinions with no remorse and they thankfully let him.

      In the blog from him entitled The Defense of Marriage Act blues he argues for equal rights for homosexuals and to deal with more important issue's at hand such as the high unemployment rate. He has always been very vocal about his views regarding homosexuality, which has lead to some speculation and an awesome comic involving him and fellow musician Glenn Danzig called Glenn and Henry Forever. I have to whole heartedly agree with him on this one. I have many homosexual friends and if something happened to them I know their parents would not honor their wishes but their partner would. I concur with him that there are also many other things that need to have the effort put into them that matter much more than some out dated rule. I know his audience is people who are already into him and probably pretty liberal but I love how he doesn't mince words. Sometimes things need to be said in a blunt non-sugar coated way and he is just the person to do that. He probably won't convince anyone to see his way that doesn't already but then again those people,most likely, aren't going to be reading his blog.

Paying for Breast Feeding

 In the commentary by Rebecca Walker titled The Root: Let the Nanny State Pay for Breast Pumps, she argues for the ability of the government to reclassify of breast pumps as a deductible medical expense. I appreciate the author's fervor in trying to get the public on her side. As any mother knows breast feeding is what babies were meant to do and has been shown to improve many things from health to intelligence, not to mention the mother baby bonding that occurs. In her argument Rebecca Walker is arguing against what many have termed "The Nanny State", by which they mean the federal government making breast pumps a deductible medical expense. As she sees it the opposition is concerned about "big government" and suggests exaggeratedly, much like Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, that if that is the case then let's remove the public schools, and police stations etc. I don't agree with her comparison on the South being those who profit from the restriction of the rights and dignity of others while the North is compared to the federal government. It just seems like a vicious comment in a time where everyone is polarized enough. To support her cause she argues that the provision has virtually no cost to the state, however provides no links to any sites that claim that. All in all I agree with her that they should be a deductible expense, my reason for it being that the benefits to be gained from it are huge and having a baby is expensive so it makes it hard to pay for things like breast pumps. Breast pumps aren't as necessary as diapers for instance so I understand why low income families wouldn't invest in one. It seems to me though that her argument is mostly vitriol and not enough facts.

Assange conspiracy case getting harder for US to make

Today an article was featured in the Washington Post concerning Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange's lack of effort to get Pfc. Bradley Manning to submit leaked State Deparment files. Originally and very vehemently the US government started going after Assange alleging he “took advantage” of a young confused Manning. The FBI and Justice Department would like to charge Assange with conspiracy , but because it would be based on contacts between Assange and Manning, which there aren't many of, they are going to have a hard time. There are many contacts between Manning and lower level activists at Wikileaks, but that's not who the US wants. Wikileaks broke into he news recently after publishing thousands of intelligent reports and video of a helicopter firing on a group in Baghdad that included two Reuters reporters. Private Manning has only been charged so far with two of the leaks. To some Julian Assange is a hero and to some he is a danger. I believe Wikileaks is a great thing, however they need to improve there withholding of names and information that might get people hurt. Here is a link to the article in the Wall Street Journal, Assange Probe Hits Snag.