In The News

There are a few stories in the news I have to comment on. FIRST there is the depressing news about the amount of Iraqis that have been killed during the US' occupation in Iraq. At the beginning of this war, Bush was trying to justify why we were there by saying that Saddam killed over 300,000 people in the matter of 24 years. Great way to pull at our heartstrings and almost makes you want to sympathize with his reasons (except not really). Then what justifies our government killing between 400,000-800,000 Iraqis (both civilians and rebels/fighters) in three years? Of course, they deny it. But who are you willing to believe, Bush's administration that doesn't want us to know the truth because it makes them look bad, or some scientists that use scientific studies and educated estimates to come up with the number previously stated? I will go with the scientists. When will Bush finally realize we are doing far more harm than good and get the hell out of Iraq? SECOND, an elementary school in Massachusetts has banned students from "playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable." Wow, what's next, stopping kids from sitting at a desk for fear they might fall out of the chair or stopping them from eating lunch on school grounds because they might choke? I get there reasons, I really do. But those are things kids love. They spend most of their day sitting in a classroom learning, holding in all that energy. Letting them play games like tag at recess gets their energy out, plus they have fun. Remember when that was what being a kid was about? Actually being a kid, those were the days. And there are a lot of ways to let out your creative energy while playing things like tag. When I was in elementary school, we would make up new tag games all the time. There was one, that while not politically correct nor something I am proud to say, that we called AIDS. Keep in mind we were in 5th or 6th grade and had no idea, at least not really, what AIDS was. All we knew was that it made you sick. But when you got tagged, you had "AIDS" and it would go from 1 person being "it" until there was only 1 person without "AIDS", so they would be it for the next game and we would start all over. Maybe not the best example, but it used our imaginations and burned our energy. Let kids be kids. It wouldn't have to come to this if people wouldn't sue over spilled coffee. And THIRD, the good news, the one that fills me with glee. As we hear news that Walmart is trying to expand its perscription programs in the US, as well as plans to buy out a supermarket chain in China, there is also the news in Florida. On October 16, employees (about 200 of them) at a WalMart Super Center in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., during the morning shift, walked out, that's right people, WALKED OUT, due to new policies and restrictions that they thought were "inhuman", while shouting "We Want Justice." Go Walmart employees! It is about time Walmart gets what they deserve. And if there is any way to be more more American, stage a protest. I LOVE IT!!! Two department managers staged the walkout even though the new policies didn't directly affect them. Want to know what these new policies were? They cut full-time employee hours from 40 hours a week to 32 hours, which also meant cut wages. The workers shifts were no longer being set up by managers, but instead a computer at corporate headquarters, which meant they could work the day shift one day and the night shift the next, so much for family time and being there for your kids. And the one that really get's my goat, when employees are sick, they have to call a 1-800 number. So in other words, if they are in a car accident and are in a coma and can't call the number, it is counted as an unexcused absence. Sounds fair. It makes my day to know that Walmart got what was coming to them. I hate Walmart. And those are my thoughs on stories in the news.