Just so everyone knows...if you feel like posting about Women in the US Military Draft, go to Goodwins Post below this and check out the comments....it sort of started there rather than in a new post. 

The Fog of Abu Ghraib

Hi all-
Although the status of the proposed field trip is not final, I think a little pre-reading about "Standard Operating Procedure" would not be overly prudent. I know what you're thinking: "Goodwin, where could we find such information on the film?" Well, I found a really interesting review of the film, including analysis of the film maker's, Errol Morris', in depth of the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib. The review is entitled "The Fog of Abu Ghraib: Errol Morris and the 'Bad Apples'" by W.J.T Mitchell, and is on page 81 of the May's Harper's magazine. A copy can be located in the library or online at http://harpers.org/archive/2008/05/page/0083. From the review, "SOP" sounds amazing (mind the political bias) and hope that this trip comes through.
Cheers.

Pope Speaks Out in NY

The NY Times reported on Pope Benedict XVI's speech on Friday in which he insisted that human rights must be the basis for ending war and poverty. This speech which took place before the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York took the tone of the Pope's other references to human rights issue in the fact that he made no specific references to human rights violations. In one of his most striking points the Pope said that, "every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights." The importance of this point lies in the UN General Assembly's current deliberation over whether or not they want to instate the right of the outside world to intervene in situations where nations fail to shield their own citizens from atrocities. I thought this article was really interesting because of the way the Pope used his power to speak not to speak to the general public about this issue, but because he took it straight to the UN. I'm very interested to see what effect his words have on their upcoming decisions.

"In Speech Pope Urges Promotion of Human Rights"

article

i didn't find any article that gives me strong feeling but i found an article that was about a seemingly korean professor's opinion and skimmed it. One interesting point he made was that "the laws didn’t apply to Mr. Bush because he is commander in chief." and i thought it's a disputable point even if i don't really care whether law should apply or not.

The url is
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/opinion/04fri1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Guantanamo Bay

Omar Khadr, a 21, detained in Guantanamo bay has been there since 2002 when he was 15 years old. He is a canadian citizen who was accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. Omar was charged of alleged murder for throwing a grenate at a US sargent as well as consiracy, providing support for terrorism and spying. Since 2002 he has had abusive interrogations and been through solitary confinement. He said that he was "shackled in painful positions, threatend with rape and used as a human mop". Most children at Guantanamo have been given basic rights such as rights to special housing and education, but Khadr has had no access to education or other rehabilitation assistance. Khadr's legal counsel will argue against the US commisions and are trying to have his trial moved to a international tribunal. For more check the article....

Election 2008, woohoo

Hi all; For those of you prolonging the homework assignment due tomorrow, I recommend the following websites to help lighten your load. While it is always possible to manually scroll through each candidates websites, (i.e. http://www.barackobama.com/index.php, http://www.hillaryclinton.com/?splash=1, or http://www.johnmccain.com/) finding a brief and accurate synopsis on specific issues can be somewhat difficult. Obama's "A Blueprint for Change" is 64 pages long! As such, I have found what I feel the is the best website for a side by side comparison on candidates and issues of their respective candidacies. Check out http://www.globalsolutions.org/08orbust/compare that has an awesome comparison tool for up to three candidates (the website still includes 21 candidates from January) on issues including Darfur, International Criminal Court/Criminal Law, Iraq, Millennium Development Goals, Iraq, Torture, and the United Nations. Barack 2008! Cheers.

Olympics Controversy

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/09/torch.protest/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

This is an interesting article about the Olympics. I dont know if anyone has been following the current debate and protests with the Olympics but i personally think that it is ironic because the Olympics are supposed to be something of unity and they are just causing a lot of protest, arguments and upset.