Dangerous Cities

Every time I log on to AOL to check my mail, I always find myself looking at the news they put on their site. It seems that a lot of the time, they put up different polls and things like that. Today, I was looking at polls that showed the safest states, unhealthiest states, and dangerous cities. The one that struck my interest was the list of the most dangerous cities. Going through the list, there were three California cities, including Compton, Richmond, and Oakland. Oakland was number four, while Detroit ranked number one.

This news kind of shocked me. I know I have always heard news about all the murders and shootings that take place in Oakland. However, when it ranks number 4 out of all the U.S cities, it is a real eye opener. I have been to Oakland before, more so for sporting events and concerts. In my opinion, those parts I have been to do not "rub me the wrong way". I know there are more parts of Oakland that may be more difficult to live in.

Going back to the polls, AOL presented rankings within different categories. In the assault, motor vehicle theft and murder category, it was ranked number 2. With rape it was number 49. Robbery was number 5 and burglary, number 17.

There are constant news stories in the bay area that focus on tragedies that happen in Oakland, and I just hope that things will be able to change in the future. Even though this city may be one of the most dangerous in the U.S, I will always be a supporter of the Oakland Raiders and Athletics.

5 years in Iraq

Spring break has ended and we are back to reality. Over break, I was watching the local news and was informed that it was the fifth year anniversary of the Iraq war. In San Francisco, there was a major protest that took place, including people chaining themselves to buildings, arrests and other situations.

Today when I was on a local news website, I saw that the 4,0000th U.S soldier was killed in Iraq. According the NBC 11, posted link, there were four U.S soldiers that were killed in Baghdad due to a roadside bomb.

With this current statistic, I just want to take the time and have everyone give thanks to those who are over there fighting and those who have lost their lives for the U.S. I am not a supporter of the war and had a friend who went to Iraq, and see first hand what the war does to people. I just hope, that sooner than later, we will be able to withdraw from the war.

Also, over the break, I was able to watch Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama talk with young veterans on MTV. Each presidential candidate sat with about 8 veterans in their twenties and discuss issues with veterans and the war. There was one veteran that stated how after he came back from the war he was homeless. Not only did he have to suffer through having no home, but his drivers license expired. He was told that he could go to the DMV and get it taken care of, free of charge, since he was fighting in the war. However, when he went to the Manhattan DMV, the lady working said he would have to pay forty-five dollars and he said he did not have the money with him. He told the lady that he was in Iraq, fighting the war, hoping this would release him of his payment. Unfortunately, the lady turned to him and said, "I don't care what war you were in. You weren't fighting for me, you were fighting for Bush." He continued to say that not one person in the DMV building, who heard her say this, stuck up for him. I knew that veterans did have problems once they came back to the U.S civilization, but not as crucial as this. I just hope that whoever becomes the next president is not only able to end the war, but also to help those veterans in need.

Newsome for Governor!

There is one thing that I especially love about San Francisco. No it is not the Giants or the 49er's, but the mayor, Gavin Newsome. Not just being appealing in age and looks, which he both has, but also he has done some great things for the bay area city, especially being a major advocate for gay marriage/rights, which I support.

According to SFgate.com, the San Francisco mayor might run for governor of California in the year 2010. If he were to run for governor, I would vote for him in a heartbeat. With California's current situation, I am very much against Arnold Schwarzenegger being our governor. I think he has truly caused problems for our state, especially with all of the budget problems we have been having; we as students in college. Having Newsome as the governor, it would be a nice change and I think that California is definitely in need of some change, starting with the governor position.

Go to the above link and read the article because if people are aware of this early, than it would maybe help people follow it and actually vote in the end.

Hillary's Stike Ends

As Super Tuesday 2 comes to a close, there are some new developments. First off, Senator John McCain obviously grabs the GOP nomination. To me, there is no surprise there since he has been ahead for quite sometime. But since I am, as you may know, a democrat, I would like to focus on that part of the recent preliminaries.

Obama won the preliminary in Vermont, while Clinton won Rhode Island. Since this was a time that Hillary needed in order to stay in the race, she seems to be keeping her foot in the door. With the other two states, Clinton had a lead in Ohio and Obama had took an early lead in Texas. As of now, the precincts are still reporting so the tallies are still unknown completely.

In my life, I have never been one to follow elections so closely. The first president I actually followed his career and praised was Bill Clinton. However, the previous elections never really caught my interest. Of course I had to do reports for some of my classes with the last election between Bush and Kerry. I did know that I did not want Bush to win, but still did not follow too closely.

I do not know exactly what sparked my interest with this election. Whether it was the fact that history was being made with a woman and African American man in the race, but that was just not it. I think it was the fact that Democrats finally have the chance to overpower the political system. There have been sayings that if it were between Clinton and McCain, McCain would easily win. But if it were between Obama and McCain, Obama would win. I truly believe this and hope that it turns out this way. However, with politics you never can tell!

Evolution

Since most of the blogs I have read recently deal with evolution and what we have discussed in class, I thought that I would write my input. Dealing with the debate between evolution and intelligent design (creationism), I think that they are both theories. When I was taught in school about evolution, I was taught that it was a theory. My teacher never said "This is what you should believe." Honestly, the whole fight over which one should be taught is kind of ridiculous. Students are going to chose to believe whatever they want to believe. Evolution seems to have a lesser way of causing trouble, but that is my opinion. Granted there are those religious people who think that creationism is the way to go since God was the one who created man. However, if school systems enforced the teachings of intelligent design, I think that would just cause a whole lot more chaos than with evolution. If parents want their children to learn intelligent design, then they should have them taught that at churches, maybe at youth groups.