In the news...

Lately I've been walking to school and I've rekindled an interest of mine which was once a big part of my life: reading the paper. Specifically, I like to grab the USA Today and get a glimpse of what's going on around this great big country of ours. It's a little bit pricier than most papers what with all the colorful pictures and ads they run. But the articles are concise and they have a variety of contributors to the editorial page. There seems to be a nice balance politically with this paper in my opinion, which I appreciate.

I'll put out my two cents on some of the top headlines from around the country and world. I'd love to know what you think.

• Governor Blagojevich: This was a news story that I actually learned about one morning when I got the paper at my local Quik Stop convenience store on my way to school. When the FBI has your phones tapped and they're giving you like a year to change your tune; basically, given you way too much rope than you'd ever need to hang yourself, you're pretty much done for. It's shameful what he was saying and the fact that he has these opinions, apparently, isn't so much what troubles me (because after all, it's a free country) but it's the fact that he's supposed to be the head of the state that he lives in. Yes, I believe we're innocent until proven guilty, but dude, you're on tape for the world to hear.
• Israel / Gaza: Not crazy about the Hamas group, personally. You think? Lobbing missiles at a country to provoke them to retaliate probably isn't the best strategy I could think of. Of course, now that Israel is retaliating, it's created a messy situation. It didn't help that the Israeli army "accidentally" killed some U.N. Peacekeepers the other day. And the pictures of the orphaned kids too weak to stand next to their dead mothers inside Gaza is troubling, to say the least. Nobody is "innocent" in that situation, in my opinion. That is just one sad, long, drawn out mess that will never be resolved. I know, I'm such an optimist.
• Inauguration Day: I am looking forward to determining what the times are for this historic event so I can make sure to share it with my students on January 20th. What an amazing day we have in store for us. And with all of the challenges that this president faces, what a great opportunity to rise up and become something great. It's shameful that we have this economic crisis, the wars going on in multiple directions, and all the other headaches that this current administration is leaving behind. But, there is definitely a real opportunity to rise up and do something special. And based on what we've seen thus far, President Obama is preparing to do just that: something special. I am sure that inauguration day will be the beginning of a turnaround in many positive ways for this country. We have to come together as a country if this is to happen. We need a president who is willing to be that unifier as opposed to this dimwit leaving office who was more interested in partyline politics when it came to everything.

There's more, but I have plenty of walking and thinking to do. I'd love to know what you think.