Justice for None

The Trayvon Martin case is probably the most divisive and talked about case concerning race and justice since the Rodney King beating. Some people have said it was a case of self defense. I would say it was a case of racially motivated, cold blooded murder. But, the truth is even though I personally believe Trayvon Martin was murdered in cold blood, we will never know what truly happened. A more important point, however, is this illustrates the different views of the world that blacks and whites still have. Perhaps this is because many white people have never had to experience the level of racial profiling, police brutality, and downright racism that many African-Americans and other people of color have had to experience. Also, why did the media focus on this case so heavily when so many young black teenagers are murdered every day in this country. Truthfully, many people judge this case without knowing what really happened. They say "This was clearly self defense. Did you see Trayvon's arrest record?" Perhaps this proves that much of white America is still very racist. But here's what I think. The best way to stop another Trayvon Martin case is to understand the cultures and experiences of both sides and not just accuse each other of whining or having a chip on our shoulder. Next time somebody says they were profiled don't accuse them of being paranoid because it might be true.

"Independence Day"

We Americans like to think of ourselves as a very independent people, but nothing could be further from the truth. All of our products, and basically everything we do in our modern life, comes from somewhere else. We pay money to buy someone else's product that we didn't make. We depend on the electric company for our light, and we depend on places like Wal-Mart and other superstores for our food and we depend on technology companies like Apple and Microsoft for our entertainment. The point is, there aren't that many Americans anymore who can honestly say, "Yes, I get up at three in the morning to milk the cows, and then grow my tomato plants."

We don't grow our own food, we don't make our own clothes, and we import a lot of electronics and other manufactured goods. So if we are fundamentally dependent on third parties to sustain our modern lives, are we really that independent in any meaningful sense? You tell me.

Pro Life or Pro Lies?

In recent years the pro life antiabortion community has taken to having people claiming to be abortion survivors like Gianna Jessen. She claimed her mother tried to abort her using a saline abortion in 1977. This left her with cerebral palsy. But it seems rather strange considering that most saline abortion survivors are left burned, blind and totally deaf. Gianna is neither blind, deaf or burned, an amazing feat. I'm not saying this to be hurtful or mean. I just think it's scientifically almost impossible for a child going through that type of abortion to survive with barely a scratch. And also consider her odd resemblance to Idina Menzel. Coupled with the odd and almost impossible outcome, it just seems odd to me that it would be true.