A Little Bit of News 2/4/05

Only listened to a bit of Morning Edition and noted what was on The Connection.

This is going to be quick today, because this week has been really rushed and I have only a few minutes to post. Excuse any stupid misspellings, please.

The first report I heard was on the number of Iraqi forces trained, and the report Wolfowitz made to the Armed Services Committee. Wolfowitz testified that there are 136,000 Iraqi security forces, but only about 40k of these are actually fully trained. The rest are not ready for much of anything. Later that same day, a spokesperson inflated the number of security forces that are fully trained. These contradictions have enraged the press -- didn't we just learn from our speakers in class "don't lie...we will find out anyway"? So now the senate has stepped in to say the administration must stop inflating the numbers and get back to reality. So true, so true.

Then there was a report on same sex couples and legislation in California. A legislator namesd Mark Leno wants to pass a law like the one in Mass. Interview with a couple: Jackie and Monique, just two parents raising two kids, a very normal family ("apple pie" family, as they said). Jackie said she did not care about the legislation. The domestic partner laws that cover her situation are enough for her. Monique thought that full marriage rights would not hurt. On the other side, people say the issue is dead, it will never pass. Farther to the right of that, some legislators are trying to get a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and stripping gays of domestic partner rights as well. People are crazy. A complicated issue. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

There was a report on the documentary Born into Brothals. It has been nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. It took 7 years to make and NPR says it is an excellent film. The film is about the brothals in Calcutta and the children who live in them. Sounds interesting. Perhaps the library will get a copy.

The last report was about Bob Marley. His 60th birthday would've been today. I have never liked Marley or Regge music, so I tuned out for the most part.

The Connection was all about news from the mideast. I got pissed about the one guy who kept compairing Israelis to Saddam. Give me a break. As if no Arab nation ever tried to kill all the Jews living there. Pu-leez. Poor poor Palistine, poor poor Arabs -- but the good thing was that one of the other panel members spoke up and said something sensible. The situation the Palistinians are in and continue to be in is for the most part self-imposed, to continue the international attention on their "plight" -- at any time the people there could've made something out of the areas where they live, but they choose not to. Well, I don't know, but all I can say is, it is not like Israel invented the attacks against them by huge numbers of Arab aggressors. Hmm.