Supreme Court Justice Appointee Elena Kagan

As Elena Kagan heads into confirmation hearings for a lifetime job as a Supreme Court justice, conservatives are questioning here past. Kagan is president Obama's Supreme Court nominee before Congress's upcoming midterm election. Documents from her service in the Clinton White House and her own e-mails as a policy aide and lawyer portait Kagan as a political savy,sometimes hard-edged strategist whose views of the Constitution are different than those of conservatives. There is little evidence in any documents that would show what kind of justice she would be. Supporters say she can serve as a consensus-builder among divided conservatives and liberals on the nine member court. Kagan had a dispute with the Pentagon on the military's policy on openly gay soldiers is little ammunition for the GOP.
I feel that the republicans efforts to keep Kagan off the Supreme Court will fail. She seems to be more of a Populist who leans on the liberal side, Which will fit in with Obama's goal for both parties to work together for the greater good of the country. As for her work on the scandals of the Clinton white House should go nowhere because Clinton was never removed fron office.

War In Afgahanistan

The Pir Mohammed School

Captain Jeremiah Ellis is the captain in charge of reopening the Pir Mohammed school in Senjaray, Afghanistan. Captain Ellis has a degree in outdoor education from the University of New Hampshire. His future plans is to use outdoor activities like rock climbing and hiking as a form of therapy for veterans coming home.

The Pir Mohammed school was built by Canadiens in 2005, in Senjaray a town outside the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Most of the civilians in Senjaray loved that their children were learning to read and write except the local Taliban. The Taliban closed the school in 2007, booby trapping it with explosives, daring the Canadiens to reopen it. The Taliban was just too big and the Canadiens were overmatched.

The Army's new counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN) is to protect the people and provide them with security and government services, and they will turn away from the insugency. This doctrine changed the rules of engagement. General McChrystal has banished most forms of air support. American soldiers can't fire warning shots, not even pen flares to stop suspicious vehicles. If a man shoots at you then puts down his weapon and runs away, you can't fire back because you might harm civilians. Captain Ellis understands the rationale for the rules - "It's what distinguishes us from the Taliban."

Ellis has gathered the town elders of Senjaray to tell them about projects that could be given to them if they agreed to stand with him against the Taliban. Some of the programs besides the reopening of the school would be a new medical clinic, solar powered wells, paved highways, bridges and irrigation canals. Captain Ellis has been facing all kinds of obstacles from NATO, American government, and from the Afghani elders who fear the Taliban.

President Obama has put a timeline on the war in Afghanistan which will probably not be met and it will cost American taxpayers, but I feel these measures are what it will tke to win the war on terrorism on the terrorist who attacked us during 911.
I feel that opening the school in Senjaray and starting others like it will help us prevail. We will have to stay there and see that they stay open so the next generation of the Afghani people Can get the education they need. Some Afghani people think that we are the russians still occupying their land. The Taliban keep the Afghanistan people ignorant and scared. The land is a lush farming area irragated by water from the Arghandab River. If we stay and teach them to farm, read,and write the future generations there will realize we care about them and the Taliban does not. In return then maybe they will refuse to let the Taliban tell them how to think and live.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon drilling oil spill is already the nation's worst-ever oil spill, and BP has down played everything from the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf to the environmental effect. At least 20 million gallons of oil and possibly 43 million gallons have spilled, covering an area 600,000 square miles and depths of 14,000 feet.

Many of the species of fish that are vital to the fishing industry are in their annual spawning seasons. Eggs exposed to the oil will perish. Those that do survive to hatch could starve if the plankton at the base of the food chain suffer. Larger fish are more resilient, but are not immune to the toxic effects of the oil.

The best hope BP has for sealing the leak is to drill two relief wells diagonally into the gushing well won't be ready untill August. And that scenario is anything but a sure bet. The task is compared to hitting a dinner plate with a drill more than two miles into the earth. BP has requested for letters to be sent on ideas on how to stop the leak and have received 8,000 letters. Some ideas are to plug the hole with cotton, use a nuclear weapon, and inflate something inside the leak are a few mentioned. My idea is to pile drive the well deep into the earth's core.

I feel that BP and the national government are to blame. BP should have thought ahead for such a leak and had a plan to fix it ready and waiting. It is like a good soldier who thinks of every possible situation that could happen in a battle and have a counter-attack for each situation that might occur. I blame the national government for not making sure the company is keeping such a catastrophe on our environment from happening. I am sick of watching companies "rape" our natural resources with no concern of our ecosystem, but only care about their wallets.