Illegal immigrant student arrested by ICE

What would you do if an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer arrested one of your peers? This is what happened in a Roswell, New Mexico high school when ICE officials arrested an 18-year old pregnant student who was in the United States illegally. Was ICE correct in arresting and deporting her? Should students, illegal or not, have a safe haven in schools?

Public Executions in 2008

Jon Leyne's BBC article "Iranian Hangings 'Hit New Record'" is at once shocking and unsuprising. At first, I was shocked that there were public hangings endorsed by the state occuring in the world in the 21st century. But then I felt almost naive. In the context of countries in which there is strict (some would perhaps argue the proper word is fanatical rather than strict) religious law, there are still forms of punishment that many in Western society would regard as antiquated and antithetical to Human Rights. Are we not beyong public hangings in 2008?
I was somewhat hesistant to post this article and raise questions of cultural relativism versus basic human rights in regards to Iran. I didn't want this to come off as a cliche Clash of Civilizations blog post in which an American University Student critizes the Iranian justice system for being archane and immoral, especially not as the post above Dr. D's regarding Waterboarding. But then, the fact that this article would be juxtaposed next to Dr.D's on waterboarding made me decide specifically to post it. (How) Can we condemn inhumane treatment of criminals, when we torture suspects? Is it not frightening that an article about punishment that would make one CRINGE when its about a foreign government, makes one QUESTION when its about their own government?

What's Angelina Jolie Doing In Iraq?

Angelina Jolie was recently in Iraq to improve efforts to help internally displaced refugees. More than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes, 2 million of which to neighboring states. Jolie has also been vocal about boosting the U.S. effort to resettle Iraqi refugees in the United States. A goal has been set of accepting 12,000 Iraqi refugees by September of 2008 but only 375 have been accepted so far.

We should all agree that there is a certain moral responsibility for helping refugees. My question to everyone else: Because of the U.S. involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, does the United States bear a greater moral responsibility to accept these refugees than refugees from other countries? If so, what implications does this have, if any, on asylum policy?

So Waterboarding is not Torture Now?

For those of you who don't know what waterboarding is -- it is essentially simulating drowning. One form is strapping someone to a board, putting a cloth over the face and pouring water over their mouth until they can't breathe.
So, is this torture? If you don't think so, what don't you try it?

So let's get to the facts. The White House has admitted and defended the CIA's use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique.
Let's remember, that the U.S signed the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and that almost every legal authority views waterboarding as torture and a crime.

So where does that leave us as Americans? Where does this leave our government? Are we okay with the fact that the U.S. government (or more specifically the CIA) is torturing in our name? How does this effect our credibility elsewhere? How does it effect our perceptions of ourselves?

"Darfur Can Wait. Let's Save America."

Isn't facebook fantastic? Below, I have pasted a description from a facebook group with the above title. I have pasted, rather than created a livelink, to protect the identity of the group members. What do you guys think about this? Are we spending too many of our resources on non-Americans? Should we, as this group suggests, take care of business at home before extending ourselves to other people in need?

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What happened to the HUMAN in Humanitarian Aid?

Does the asylum process in the US work? What are the major flaws, successes? Should an asylum overhaul be part of the illegal immigration debate? Granted, asylum seekers are not "illegal immigrants", but then why are they treated as such?

More on the Westboro Baptist Church....

This link is a documentary about the Westboro Baptist Church. A BBC reporter went to live with them for a few weeks and everything was filmed for this report...it is going to make you mad.

US Supreme Court ponders gun law

It has been 70 years since the U.S. Supreme Court has considered the right of Americans to bear firearms. However, recent tragedies have provoked considering banning handguns once again. Many argue that they have the right to protect themselves and feel safe as the Second Amendment states, "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Some opponents to firearms interpret the Second Amendment as meaning that only the militia and police forces are entitled to bearing arms.

Two-thirds of murders use firearms and about 42.2% of robberies within the country use firearms according to the FBI. Therefore, it can be argued that guns are the root of a lot of crimes in the U.S. Do you think that people should have the right to feel protected and in control by bearing arms? Or would people feel more safe if everyday citizens were prohibitted from owning firearms? Could probitting the ownership of firearms put an end to tragedies such as today's horrible news from a shopping centre in Nebraska that resulted in the murder of eight people, five people wounded, two people in critical condition and the suicide of the murderer?

Children Accused of Witchcraft

In parts of Angola, Congo, and the Congo Republic, thousands of children are identified as witches and beaten, abused, or abandoned. Their families are shunning them because they are afraid of them. For example, in Angola “it is socially unacceptable to push a child out because of poverty, but not if they are possessed.” There are shelters for the shunned children, but the shelters are not in the best condition. What is surprising is that there are no shelters for girls. Moreover, since July, many children have been turned away from shelters because there are no rooms. What should be done for these children if their parents disown them and they have no one to turn to?

High court probes Guantanamo prisoners' rights

The issue of Guantanamo Bay and prisoners' rights is in the news again. On Wednesday, the constitutionality of how the prisoners were detained without a right to trial, some with little knowledge of what they were being held for was disussed. The Bus administration has been holding fast to the fact that this is what needs to be done, it is a "new style war on terror". Further, they have been claiming that the situation now is better than it was in the past, with war prisoners having more rights now that for example during the World Wars. This was on terror has seen prisoners' rights be affected, but so have the rights of individual US citizens. Are you willing to give up one right for the right of security? Are you willing to be silenced in order to maintain peace? Should you be suspicious or accepting of an administration that slowly undermines civil rights, whether of war prisoners or citizens "for your own good"?