The 2 Other Hikers Should Be Freed

So glad to see that Iran has finally let Sarah Shourd go free and that she is back home with her family.  Now Iran needs to let Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal go free as well.  Clearly it was a mistake and a misunderstanding on the part of the hikers for being so close to the border and who knows if they had even entered Iran at all.  Hopefully other Americans can learn from this and just stay away from that area.  If you don't have to be there, don't go there.

An article regarding Ms. Shourd speaking out since her release:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100919/ap_on_re_us/iran_us_hikers

Not So Great Redesigns of the Dollar Bill

So I read this article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/721294 about people who have given some ideas to spruce up our paper money.  While some of the designs are pretty cool looking, i.e. the vertical designs, some of what they are wanting on the bills is not.  The first being the top picture with the $1 bill with our current president on it.  One reason that President Obama should not be on any currency, at least right now, is that he hasn't even completed a term in office.  He hasn't, at this point, done anything of significance that would warrant such an honor.  I believe that George Washington should always be on the $1 bill for as long as we have paper money.  He was the 1st President of the United States and should thus be on the $1 dollar bill.  There certainly are presidents that have done great things or have earned the honor of being put on currency and they should continue to have that honor.  You can view the pictures of the 15 different designs here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/16/15-amazing-new-designs-fo_n_719913.html
One of the designs I really liked was picture #3.  I really liked the overall design of the it but I believe that Lincoln should still be on the $5 bill and maybe use that design for the back.  I thought that #4 was pretty boring.  I thought that picture #5 was pretty different and I liked it because it kept Benjamin Franklin on it and while Franklin was not a president, he was one of the Founding Fathers of our nation.  I didn't like #6, plain and simple.  #7 is very different looking and the red coloring just really stands out.  I am on the fence with #8 because of all the writing it has, but I actually like that it uses the words from the Constitution on it.  People may actually learn something if they were to look at what is in their hand and take the time to read what is printed on the bill.  The bill design for #8 is one I do not like for the same reasons as listed earlier in this post regarding Obama.  I don't like #10 for some of the same reasons I stated before.  The one for #11 is interesting considering that they picked Amelia Earhart for it but the problem I have with it is that we have a $2 bill and it has Thomas Jefferson on it.  Again one of our former presidents and a Founding Father of our country.  Why mess with that?  I have the same feelings for design #12.  One thing I do think is that Martin Luther King, Jr. should get some sort of honor with a paper bill, maybe make a $15 bill or $25 bill and put him on it.  I have the same feeling about using Ronald Reagan on a paper bill.  #13 is one of the worst designs of them all.  Too plain and nothing really to it.  I really love the design of #14 because not only does it have Washington on it but it has a really great picture for the background of the bill.  The last picture #15 is just what the title of that picture says it is, 'Going Cheap' which it actually appears to be.
This design concept is a pretty interesting idea but would probably not be very cheap to do a complete overhaul of the paper currency of the U.S.

Real Act of Compassion

When I read this article today my first thought was that out of this tragedy for this family that people from the gaming community have really stepped up to show their support for someone they did not know.  It also showed just how much this man loved his wife and unborn child and the length he would go to protect them.  It really shows the compassion that complete strangers can have for someone they don't know.

Here is the link to the article I am referring to:
http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/gamers-lend-support-to-widow-of-heroic-developer/1410899

This is the link to the news story regarding the accident:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/426208_crash04.html 

For Political Gain?

The reason I am posting this is not to support Tom Barrett for governor of Wisconsin but to say that I believe he is using this event to further himself in the campaign.  I believe it is wrong that he is using what happened in this way.  While I applaud him for stepping in and helping the grandmother, I don't believe that he should be exploiting the incident for political gain.  If this had been any other Joe Schmo, this story would have been just been another story in the news.

Introduction

 A little about me before I make my official first post.  My name is Sarah, I am 26 years old and live in Wisconsin.  I will post to this blog pretty regularly.  The topics I will talk about will vary from politics & news to movies & music.  Feel free to comment on my posts but please be respectful and don't post a comment just to say that you were the first to comment as I think that is just plain stupid and a pure waste of time.