Indonesian Judge Suggests Rape Victims Like It

Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/world/asia/indonesia-rape-comments-controversy/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

             An Indonesian Judge has said something that has essentially killed every chance he had of being elected for the Indonesian Supreme Court. He said this: "Consideration needs to be taken thoroughly for the imposition of death penalty for a rapist because in a rape case both the rapist and the victim enjoy it."
He said this in response a question about the death penalty being used on rapists.



This picture shows a protest for anti-rape regulations in Indonesia.

              Now, I find this story both awful and amusing. Awful for obvious reason's. The fact that someone could say something as stupid and inappropriate as this is beyond me. And I find it amusing because he killed every chance he had ever had of becoming a member of the Supreme Court there. This case is very similar to the case in America during the elections, of Republican Todd Akin, and Richard Mourdock. Todd Akin was running for Senate when he said this: "First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down." This idiotic statement of course killed every chance of him winning his race. And Mourdock said "Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Again, a very strange thing to say, because Church and State should be separate. All in all, this was awful thing to say and it clearly lost him his race.

Newtown: After the Blood

Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/14/us/connecticut-newtown-one-month-on/index.html?hpt=us_c2

I'm sure we are all aware of the horrific incident that occurred a month ago in Newtown, Connecticut. An evil man (and yes, I believe he is evil, not insane) found his way into an elementary school and what followed can only be described as one of the most horrific massacres of this day and age. I'm not going to go into to much detail about the event itself, but I will talk more about the aftermath and my response.

After this brutal massacre, the entire nation of America came together. It was in all honestly one of those moments where it makes you feel hopeful. When everyone is hurting due to this incident, it's extremely uplifting to see the country come together to try to help.For the days that immediately followed the killings, people from surround states and cities flocked to Newtown with gifts and words of support.

With regards to what I said earlier about the killer being evil and not insane, I stand by that. I believe that he is evil because he knew what he was doing. He knew that using the gun would kill people, and he did exactly that. I'm not saying he is 100% sane. He has problems to say the least, but he is not completely 'crazy'. He knew what he was doing and from the looks of it, he had wanted to do more. This whole situation has also obviously brought up one of if not the biggest debate on guns in America. Some people think we should have more guns, to protect us from our already existing guns? Ok, not what I would think but all right. This incident brought out the worst and in some cases, the best of America.

France Protests Against Gay Rights

Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/13/world/europe/france-marriage-rights-protest/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

In France, by the Eiffel Tower, this past Sunday, hundreds of thousands angry and ignorant people gathered to speak out against human rights. You may be thinking, that the title of this article specifies gay rights, well that's exactly gay rights are, they are human rights. I am very proud to be Canadian, because although it is not a perfect country, it is (at least in my opinion) better at human and social advancements. America has a huge problem with same sex relationships and marriages. Europe is usually not thought to be that prejudiced, yet here France is, carrying the flag in the name of ignorance. Now, I realize I might sound a bit angry towards France as a whole, and I totally understand that this is not the fault of France at all. It is the fault of certain people, unfortunately, there are many of these people. The President of France, Francois Hollande, had campaigned this issue when he was running, and he has held true. He has offered a bill that is expected to be passed soon that gives the LGBT community more rights, the main one being the ability to marry. Finally! I am ashamed that I live in a world that is so advanced as this one, yet still struggles with things like gay rights.

Some of these protesters argue that gay rights are wrong because of what the Bible says about traditional marriage. I'm not going to even really address that point in detail, because the Bible says a lot of things about marriage, and most people don't agree with them nowadays. But these protesters weren't just Christians, there were Muslims (who also have very interesting laws of marriage in the Qur'an) and people of the Jewish culture. Now of course, I'm not blaming solely religion, that would be very prejudiced of myself. I blame this reaction to a variety of things, including but not limited to religion. Some others include parental guidance and a bad upbringing, ignorance (which in this day, is a choice), and a few other minor things.

Again, I have nothing against France or the French people, but these hundreds of thousands who protested this long awaited bill, are the reasons this world isn't where it could be.