Affecting our Innocent Comics Now

Raping Occurs Everywhere, Inluding Our Own Hometown Schools

A 15 year-old girl was raped and violated by ten different people. Meanwhile, another ten people watched, they didn't call for help or even object; they just watched for their own enjoyment. It's sick that watching a young, outnumbered girl getting raped is now considered a sport. It's even sicker that not one of those people had enough of a conscience to help her. This happened in a northern Californian high school. There are stories about rapes and murders, but generally we never catch wind of it. Whatever needs to be done needs to start now to put a cease to the violations. This girl is now mentally injured for life, they not only physically violated her, they mentally violated her and those scars with stay with her for a long time.

Anti Abortionists get Deadly: Irony at Its Best

In an abortion clinic in Nebraska doctors have to hide from the crowds, they have to be completely aware of their surrounding; the abortion doctors in Nebraska are in danger because of their job. The front of the clinic is damaged, the whole outside is filthy and is falling apart; however, when you walk in the entire clinic is neat and sanitary. While entering, apparently, the protesters will note what you look like and what your license plate number. They then relay that information, through walkie talkies no less, to their other non supporters. Carhart is one of the only doctors in the clinic, his mentor, Tiller, was shot in the head by one of the abortion protesters. This is appalling, especially as a female, teen, Californian to see that in another state is is vital to your health that you do not get an abortion. This seems so ironic to me, the protesters are claiming to save lives; but in their attempt to protest they kill someone. Hopefully one day underage teens, unfit mothers, or willing patients will be able to walk into a proud standing abortion clinic in Nebraska and be able to get the treatment they desire.

Medicinal Marijuana Laws Coaxing Teens to Get High?

The medicinal marijuana laws in states such as California could possibly be influencing teenagers to smoke pot. As unbelievable as this is, because there are no age laws for medicinal marijuana, teens sometimes abuse the law and get it just for there own entertainment. This could be a big explanation to a higher percentage of marijuana using teens.

Anti-drug advocates often assert that California's medical marijuana law and the prevalence of the dispensaries that distribute the drug are making it easier for children to get pot.

But showing a direct link between medical marijuana laws and teen drug use is difficult, as illustrated by two separate government reports used by parties on both sides of the contentious issue to support their positions. -Edward Sifuentes

Oil Wells Are In Fact Refilling

Over the last few years, the rumor that our oil wells are drying up spread like wildfire. The new slogan was to buy more fuel efficient cars and carpool more. In high school classes, it was being taught that the world was running out of natural resources. But in fact four years ago scientists noticed that many of the oil wells were actually refilling and some were refilling quickly.

Although it sounds too good to be true, increasing evidence from the Gulf of Mexico suggests that some old oil fields are being refilled by petroleum surging up from deep below, scientists report. That may mean that current estimates of oil and gas abundance are far too low. They are refilling as we speak. But whether this is a worldwide phenomenon, we don't know."- Robert Cooke

So if the wells were refilling at a faster rate then thought four years ago, how does that effect us today? People could say that the oil wells are slowing down in their natural production; but why would they be? The process is a natural event and even though we keep pumping more and more oil it should refill itself. It will be interesting to monitor over the next few years. The gas companies tried to hide the excess of oil before, are they still doing it and will they continue to lie to us?

Although Pluto was Kicked Out of the Planetary System: There Are Plenty More Outside the System

Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system. They are called "Exoplanets", found by University of Porto (Portugal), they used an intense telescope called a Chilean Telescope. This particular telescope can find planets outside our solar system easily and is able to detect even the slightest of movements. At first they thought that there were only 32 more planets, but now, when able to look at different solar systems, they can count up to 400. This is exciting, we now have more planets to name, and our knowledge of the universe just seems to expand with each new day.

More Troops Out

Instead of bringing our troops back home, as the Obama Administration promised, they have decided that it would be best to send 40, 000 more into Afghanistan. President Obama made a promise to this country that the troops would be brought back, it certainly feels as though he is breaking his promise. They did however give a weak excuse to back up their decision

"Afghanistan is not Iraq," one senior administration official said. "To say that we can take what we did in Iraq and Xerox it and send it to Afghanistan is obtuse."

I really hope Obama is making the best decision for this country. Especially when our countries economy is falling apart, and we are wasting money on the unnecessary placement of troops. We have already done enough damage, it's time to bring our troops home.

Parents Not so Wild about those Wild Things

Apparently many parents complained of the new movie, "Where the Wild Things Are". Many claim that their children were bored, or that the movie was too sad. One parent even said that the movie was geared to 8-12 year olds instead of 1-3 year olds. I personally would like to know what 1-3 year old enjoys any movie without minimal dialogue, bright colorful objects and a campy narrator. Obviously the writer had to expand the dialogue in order to create an interesting movie. If parents have such a problem with this one movie, just not taking their children to see it seems like a workable solution. Although the younger children are not enjoying the movie, many teenagers, parents and grandparents are seeing the movie. Maybe this movie wasn't supposed to be geared for younger children, maybe instead it was geared to bring up fond childhood memories in older people. Whatever the case, there is no point in ruining a good movie.

The Life of an American Includes: Deceit, Lies and Espionage

In this particular case, just one American committed the traitorous act of espionage Steward David Nozette was taken into custody and is up for exposing America's secrets to Israel. He was a patriot of America who worked as a technical consultant "for an aerospace company that was wholly owned by the government of the state of Israel". Apparently the company consulted with him often and made large payments for information. The American government caught him when they posed as an Israeli intelligence agent, they asked him to meet and he (Nozette) confirmed that he was willing to work for Israeli Intelligence. It's surprising as well as alarming that an American would commit treason. Right now our country needs to bind together and keep our country afloat.

America Gets Antsy When She Has No One To Blow Up: So She Blows Up the Moon

America is now turning her violent attitude towards the moon. Actually we are now bombing the moon to make sure there is water available. Earlier NASA discovered that there was evidence of water on the outer shell of the moon. They are now bombing it to verify the presence of water for the low price of $7 million. We want to know if there is water on the moon because the option of sending people back to the moon to live. If there is water present, there is the possibility of human life on the moon. Another reason for bombing the moon is to find out if we can split the water into rocket fuel, air water; we can save ourselves a lot of money. While these are good reasons, people might find it irresponsible to bomb the moon. Once we get started bombing off our planet, no one knows how far it could go. If the world were in more desperate times, people might be more open to this idea.

Extending Federal Protection Not Extended to Homosexuals

In the bill to fund the war in Afghanistan, the senate democrats had added a rider to extend federal protection to homosexuals who are victims of hate crimes. As of now, if someone is convicted of committing a hate crime, their punishment is worse than if hate were not a part of it. But the senate republicans voted not to fund the war in Afghanistan because they would not vote for this rider. Most of them wanted to fund that war but their unwillingness to be at all supportive for justice for homosexuals stopped them. I personally wanted to take our soldiers out of the war, but i also want to support federal justice. I am torn about what I would vote for.

Political Bashing About Obesity

It's unreasonable that political leaders suffer criticism about their physical appearance. It it not their job to look like a movie star. Many other leaders have been overweight, and they were respected; weight should not be a judgmental factor. Showing that our country is intolerant of our own citizens will make us look weaker.

This ad reflects a total lack of understanding, empathy and tolerance. No one should be criticized for being overweight. We're all wired to respond to different stimuli -- sex, gambling, alcohol, illegal drugs -- and for many people it's food. I would rather have this problem than some of these other problems. Some of the world's greatest leaders, from Winston Churchill to Ted Kennedy, struggled with their weight. This struggle has nothing to do with leadership abilities. It doesn't translate into a lack of control in any other part of a person's life. In any case, voters identify with people who are honest and open about their struggles. To be cruel to someone because of this struggle is just unacceptable. It shows a lack of understanding about human nature, and about the environment in which we live.

-Andrew Sullivan

The Older the Person the Younger the Sex Victim

Why is it these days that we frequently hear about older men fornicating with much younger, youthful people? What changed in the culture that made it alright to overlook pedophilia? More and more people are coming forward to tell their molestation stories. What happens if this becomes part of our culture? Will the US be known for its rising percentages of pedophilia? Please teach our future generations the healthy way to have relationships.

Soccer Moms, Minivans and Glocks

This minivan mom was found shot dead along with her husband in their home in Pennsylvania. Before her death, she was photographed at one of her children's soccer games sporting a fully-loaded glock. Note the day she wore the gun was also coincidentally 9/11/08 so she could just be overly worried about another terrorist attack. My point is why must some people in our nation feel the need to carry firearms to innocent activities? Instead of preventing risk, she put everyone at risk.

Unsanitary Nurses, that Day Has Come

This nurse knew that she was exposing patients to dangerous diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. How could a person with the profession of assisting save lives be so thoughtless. She confessed to her crime; but how many nurses are unconsciously putting us at those same risks? How do we know if we are in the path of danger when we are visiting a place of health?

Haven't We Overstayed Our Intrusion?

Unfortunately, the United States's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, has informed the country that that we will not be pulling out of Afghanistan. Even if President Obama decides to pull the US out of Afghanistan; we will be remaining there. Robert Gates says:

Because of our inability and the inability, frankly, of our allies to put enough troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban do have the momentum right now. eventual Taliban victory would provide "added space" for al Qaeda to set up in the country and enhance recruiting and fundraising, bolstered by the perspective of a second victory over a superpower by Muslim forces after having driven out the Soviet Union in the 1980s,

Although this may be true, we had overstayed whatever welcome we had. It's time to bring our troops home and let Afghanistan help itself. The US intervenes too much, we need to learn our limitations.

The Choice May no Longer be Ours

In the past year the country has split 50-50 on the abortion topic. But in the last six months, more of the country is siding with the pro-life view. They are lobbying to have abortion outlawed in more and more states. This is a terrifying thought to an adolescent female. As an adolescent female with less than a year to graduate, its scary imagining if I were to ever get pregnant, that i would not be able to abort the fetus. I know that at this age I am not capable of supporting child, I am just figuring out how to support myself. I know that California will probably not be effected by this, but still, even the option of having my right as a female taken away is frightening.

Another Variation of the Hominid is Found!

This new being was found in Ethiopia in 1994 and was just recognized to be older than the famous half ape-half human Lucy (found in Africa). In fact this new discovery, nicknamed Ardi, is at least one million years older than Lucy. It helps the world go even further into the history of evolution. I think that any clue to our past is a great step and I am thankful that this is helping prove that evolution really did take a part in the human creation. Ardi can help the world unlock another clue to the past!

Grizzly Bear Endangered Animal?

The grizzly bear is back on the endangered species list. This beautiful creature is now a minority and is in danger of being extinct. There was a mass overload of beetles that nested in the trees that the grizzly bears get their food from, therefore forcing the bears to find food somewhere else. They wandered into higher populated areas and were forced to face hunters. The people of the world need to protect our animals, not just because they are our animal, but because we could end up eliminating them from the planet!

In 2008 alone, nearly 80 grizzlies were known to have died in the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Our Dollar is Gaining Against Japan

The United States is finally catching up dollar wise. As the rest of the world's money deflates ours is slowly rising.

The U.S. dollar edged up to 90.02 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 89.66 in New York late Wednesday. The euro slipped to 131.10 yen from 131.28, and to 1.4563 dollars from 1.4627. Sentiment among major manufacturers improved for a second straight quarter, but the outlook for earnings and business investment remains bleak, the results of the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey suggested.

So if our money is worth more; that enables the United States to buy more things. But if we are doing all the buying, we are doing all the spending. If other countries become poorer they will stop buying products. Products like the ones that the United States produces. This inflation shouldn't get us too excited quite yet. We could just end up digging ourselves another hole here.

A Rise in Spending Could Mean a Decrease Next Year's Spending

In August there was a 1.3 percent raise in the consumer rate. That means that even though our economy has taken a serious hit, people are still spending money on non-essential items. Even though this year people feel as though they can spend money, next year might be a little tougher. So while I am buying my Starbucks now, tomorrow I could be struggling to buy a pair of necessary underwear.

Martin Crutsinger says

"However, they are worried that growth could slip to a much more sluggish pace next year as the impact of government stimulus programs lessens and households continue to be battered by rising unemployment and a variety of other problems.The big jump in spending and much weaker gain in incomes translated into a big drop in the savings rate. "