Death of J.D Salinger

J.D Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, died today at age 91. An article in The Guardian, discusses Salinger's life in death. Salinger is one my favorite authors, I especially love his short stories, because I feel that he touches on a raw poignancy that very few authors are capable of hitting.
Salinger's last work was published in 1965, and after the publication of The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger lived a very reclusive and mysterious life. I think that it's sad that such an influential American author lived a life that remains such a mystery.

More than a spousal sympathy bump..

Thomas Beatie, the world's first male mother is sporting another pregnant belly. An article in The Guardian discusses his last pregnancy and his current pregnancy. The article reports that Beatie underwent sex change surgery so that he could legally marry his partner who is infertile. In my opinion, Beatie should have been able to marry his partner, with or without having a sex change. I also feel that it is unfortunate that this family's expansion is becoming a sort of media circus, which I think is an extremely unhealthy environment for a child to be born into.

Secret Terrorist Peace Talks?

Today an article in The Guardian discussed the peace talks between senior Taliban members and UN envoys, that recently came to light. I am glad that these talks have begun, because I feel that both sides are probably developing very real concerns about when and how this war should end. My only concern is that the UN officials will be so concerned with ending the war that they will be too lenient when agreeing to the Taliban's terms.

If we can't use them, no one can.

Recently a New York woman found bags and bags full of unworn winter clothes, thrown away outside an H&M clothing store and slashed with a box cutter. She was outraged at the waste of these garments during a freezing winter in a terrible recession. She attempted to contact the headquarters of H&M, but did not recieve a reply. She then contacted the New York Times in which an article detailing the waste was published. In my opinion this is an atrocity, for a company to simply discard unused merchandise instead of donating it is one thing, but that H&M went so far as to slash the clothing and make in unusable is terrible. Men and women are freezing in the streets of New York City, and this clothing store has to go so far as prevent them from using discarded clothing for warmth.

A Christmas Near-Tragedy

In an article from The Guardian today the Grand Jury indictment of the Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate an explosive device aboard an airplane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit was discussed. The man faced six charges including attempted use of a WMD and attempted murder. I'm so thankful that this probable terrorist attack failed, because I truly do not believe that America would have recovered from an attack like this on Christmas, a day which represents hope, especially considering our current unstable situation.

My Community Service will be.. (drumroll please!)

I'll be doing my community service with habitat for humanity. This program helps families in need build homes. I believe that this program will be a really great way for me to accomplish my community service hours, because I think it will be really cool to meet the families who's houses I'll be building, and to work alongside them to achieve their goal.

You can get married now! Psych..

This basically seems to be the type of cruel taunting that American voters have been enacting towards gay and lesbian couples. In an article in the Guardian the Maine repeal of a law which legalized same-sex marriage is discussed. Even though the governor of Maine opposed the repeal and supported the legalization of gay marriage, the law was unfortunately repealed, and gay marriage is once again illegal.

Do Scanners Break Child Pornography laws?

An article in the London Guardian poses the argument that the full body scanners that airports have pondered using as an added security measure, are graphic enough that minors should be excused under child pornography laws. Although the images are of course not used in a pornographic manner, the images clearly display the genitalia and full bodies of their subjects, which many view as a privacy violation . Since these would technically be naked images of minors, they are illegal, because the scanners would be breaching the Protection of Children Act of 1978 under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or "pseudo image" of a child. The recent discussions of alternate security measures have come to head after the failed terrorist attack in December.