A blushing bride in disguise

I thought this was pretty funny. Apparently a group of terrorists tried to drive into Baghdad disguised as a wedding convoy. One of the terrorist was even dressed in a dress and veil to play the part of the blushing bride. You can find the full article at http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/26/iraq.bride/index.html. Perhaps the terrorists thought that the guards at the checkpoint would have been more lenient when they saw a newlywed car passing by, or maybe they thought that they would have been given more privacy due to nature of such a sacred union, but to me this seems like such a ridiculous plan. The good news is we managed to catch the insurgents before they reached their destination and managed to carry out any more acts of terror.

Are you getting enough milk?

Rickets, a disease where bones become soft, has been appearing more and more. The reason is children now are not getting enough calcium in their diet as in the past. Lack of calcium, a lack of exercise, and a lack of sunshine has endangered adolescents of possibly getting osteoporosis later in life and has caused the increase in rickets.

Children now are busy staying inside, on their computers and not outside in the sunshine where they can be getting vitamin D to help them absorb calcium. In addition, they need to be drinking more milk and exercising so that they can increase their bone density. For example, the dominant arm of a tennis player has 35% more bone than the other arm. Clearly, exercise is an important factor.

So be sure to get some calcium in your diet, lots of exercise, and a little sunshine.

Hero in Arizona Desert Deported

Yesterday, a nine-year-old boy was found in the middle of an Arizona desert accompanied by a man who apparently had just illegally entered the US. The boy and his mother (their names remain unreleased) had just suffered from a car crash Thursday night in which the mother had not survived. The boy’s father had just died two months ago. The boy left the car disoriented but unhurt and was later found by the man whose name is Jesus Manuel Cordova.

Cordova tried to pull the mother out of the car and when he was unable to, he comforted the boy while they waited for help. He also stayed with the boy throughout the night, building a bonfire and lending him his jacket to help with the cold. They were found by hunters, who called the authorities the next day. Cordova was then arrested by Border Patrol agents and returned to Mexico.

I think it was very generous of Cordova to stay with the boy, who had probably experienced some form of trauma brought about by the accident (and perhaps his father’s death just two months ago). It took a lot for him to help the young boy after coming such a long way from Mexico that I think that he shouldn’t have been deported. Shouldn’t he have deserved a chance to get what he came all that way for especially because he helped a traumatized boy?

Helping Afghanistan

The Farm Euro Insurance is now preparing for the Christmas season packing boxes full of jackets, sweatshirts and socks. These boxes are intended to be shipped off to Afghanistan to be donated to children in need.

Apparently the agency is doing this out of inspiration from one of their agents now in Afghanistan, Captain Brian Pinson. Pinson has kept in touch with the agents back home and he told them that all he wanted for Christmas was for donations to be sent to the children of Afghanistan. He reports to them that there is nothing there and that the kids are not prepared for the winter to come.

I am glad to see the people of our country doing something that is almost completely, objectively moral. I am proud to be of a nation that can help others in need.

President Bush Pardons a 21 Week-Old

(This was meant to be my post for yesterday, so forgive me for posting something Thanksgiving-related today)

Out of the 265 million turkeys raised just this year, two were spared from ending up on a dinner table thanks to the annual presidential turkey pardon started by President Harry Truman exactly 60 years ago.

Last Tuesday, President Bush pardoned 21 week-old May as this year's National Thanksgiving Turkey and Flower as May's alternate. May and Flower were raised in Dubois, IN under the direction of Ted Seger, chairman of the National Turkey Federation. After the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation, May will be flown first class to Orlando to be grand marshal of Disneyworld's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Knowing that one turkey gets first class treatment, doesn't make me feel too bad for the millions of other turkeys that end up getting killed. As admirable as the tradition of saving one (or two!) turkey's life is, I hope you all had a delicious one yesterday!

Less Troops, More Time

The Democratic Party's proposal on Iraq might be successful at bringing troops home without any success at really ending the war. This proposal would require that troops be sent home within 30 days, as President Bush is already working on as he attempts to reverse this year's troop build-up. The proposal also sets a goal of ending combat by December 15, 2008, making troops left behind focus only on three goals: counterterrorism, training Iraqi security forces and protecting U.S. assets, including diplomats.

There are currently 164,000 troops in Iraq and this proposal is estimated to leave as little as a few thousand to at least 70,000 troops in Iraq. However, Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, Deputy chief of staff for operations in Iraq, states that it would be difficult to accomplish any of the three goals the military has set up without significant US military presence in Iraq.

This proposal angered anti-war groups who feel that such a proposal would only maintain the a long-term US presence in Iraq. Republicans in the Senate also oppose this because they believe it would create an "artificial timetable" on the progress already made in Iraq.

While I feel that this proposal might lessen US military presence in Iraq, I think that a withdrawal of troops should affect all of them rather than just a group of them, whatever size that group may be in number. Since this proposal only serves to withdraw some troops with the possibility of extending the amount of time that the others will remain there, then this proposal is not very helpful for all. Even though this may help decrease the number of military deaths in Iraq, I feel it's quite unfair for some troops to get to return home while others are kept away from their families.

How's Dinner?

Before getting into my post this evening, I would like to congratulate the Aragon Chamber Choir for an excellent performance at the Oakland, California Jack London Square Tree Lighting Ceremony. The choir performed three pieces: Words, Ubi Caritas, and Russian Dance. Al though the group did not place for the competition, it was a great effort and I am proud to have been a part of it.

Now to the good stuff....

With the second term running out for President George W. Bush, he has veered away from big-picture decisions to smaller, more focused actions that he calls "kitchen table issuess". An example of these "kitchen table issues" is the following, Bush recently took a trip to Chesapeake Bay, Maryland to help preserve two species of game fish (ny times). Bush's administrators claim that he is taking these steps in order to "keep his hand in the game", knowing that his administration is known for mainly anti-terrorist actions.

Many people are upset with Bush for many decisions he has made like the war and the huge expenses spent on border control. These actions are obviously ENORMOUS, I wonder if the electorate wants to see Bush make more gigantic moves that will get us out of these dilemmas in stead of little ones that only affect one city.

I ask the readers to answer me this:

What do you make of this kitchen table? How's Dinner?

Do you approve of what Bush is doing with his remaining time?