OPINION

12/04/2001

What is there to say about today's state of affairs. Every day I turn on the news or check it out on the internet. Actually to tell you the truth the news has become a huge part of my life ever since September 11, 2001. If you want to check out an exerpt from that day in my journal you can see all the chaos and fears that were running through my head the night after the event. It was really one of the saddest days and weeks of my life for myself and a great deal of the nation. The comment that struck me the most came from my mommom O'Connor. She told me that "this is the worst thing she's seen in her life EVER!" My grandma lived and served during WWII. Isn't that amazing that she would say that what happened in New York that calm morning of 9/11 was the worst thing she's ever seen. It really puts things in perspective. Other than that day, many events have unfolded around teh world. The U.S. has stepped up its military campaign in Afghanistan publicly and most likely is involved in military campains secretly around the world. The conflict in the Middle East has reached catastrophic proportions. Nearly a thousand people, including young innocent civilians have died since the 14 month conflict began. As of today, Israel almost took out Arafat. They were jsut demonstrating how powerless Arafat really is. I'm not just saying the comments on Israel because my opinion echoes what I hear on the sometimes biased news programs. It's hard for the news not to bias the current situation because we have been allies with Israel for som many years, so I don't blame them. The Middle East is such a touchy subject. The United States is feeling pressure from most world powers to make a peace process go forward and stopping backing Israel. Neither is going to happen anytime soon. The countries of northern Africa and rest of the Arab nations are getting extremely angry with Israel and America. This doesn't bode well for the U.S. who is seriously considering extending this war on terrorisn again the government of Saddam Hussein. New terrorist threats continue to reveal themselves daily. Anthrax has become "boring" news if thats believable. I as an American, am getting used to living in a country at risk for more attacks. I think the government is doing an excellent jobs at keeping us on our toes by issuing 3 hardcore alerts since September 11th. This has made terrorism more realistic to me. If or when there is another attack in the United States it will be horrifying, however I believe Americans will be more able to cope with the disastor and prosper forward. There constantly is soo much running through my head with politics, current events, the weather its amazing. Most of the time I don't get the opportunity to share my thoughts with anyone at school for two main reasons. They themselves are too busy to have a long conversation about current events or they aren't interested. The second is the most common. I don't blame them, I don't think too many people feel the same passion for current event information as I do. I need to know the truth. When I hear someone voicing opinions that I absolutely know are false it makes me shudder. I don't want to NOT understand they way things are in the world today. It's SOOOO important to know about what's going on everywhere. It's one of the many miracles technology has given us and I want to take full advantage. It always excites me when I find a new news site or wire service that provides me with different viewpoints on situations. It's important to hear ALL the sides so I can establish a rich opinion which is properly weighed.....OK that's more than enough for tonight....check back later for more comments...8^)...Evmeister

...Ev
Evan Lowery