Opinion

Earlier this year, a compromising photo of wholesome American superstar Michael Phelps preparing to smoke from a bong surfaced. The photo, which immediately became the topic of the day in the sports world, as well as the rest of the world, has lead to eight arrests, public statements from Phelps, attempts at damage control from his handlers and actions from Phelps' sponsors.

Amir-Abdel Malik Ali, with a smile of pride on his face, recounted the story of a Hamas militant from the Gaza offensive to a crowd at the flagpoles on Jan. 29. "There was a story of one brother brought into a Gaza hospital who said, ‘Patch me up, I have to go back out,' " Ali shouted to his listeners. Someone proceeded to ask Ali, "How can you be smiling? Look at all the suffering that's going on; look at what the people are going through." Ali responded, "If they have people that died in their families, they're martyrs and they should be happy ... I want to die the death of a martyr." However, would Ali be so jubilant about Gazans being "martyred" if it was his mother or father who died in the recent offensive in Gaza?

Anyone who has opened a newspaper, turned on the TV or even been in contact with human life forms in the last few months knows the downside of the current financial crisis. Millions of jobs have been lost, California has been forced to put thousands of workers on furlough and mortgage defaults have left entire cul-de-sacs in foreclosure. However, if we are to believe the cliché that every cloud has a silver lining, then what is the upside of this recession? Here is a list...

The following dates and places all stand in wake of tragedy: April 20, 1999, Columbine High School; April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech; Feb. 14, 2008, Northern Illinois University. On each of these dates and campuses, a school shooting occurred that changed any parent, faculty or student associated with an institute for education. The outbreak of violence that many people associate with poor neighborhoods, or even third world countries, happened on what was generally perceived as a safe environment: a campus. Since these horrific events have transpired, an organization has surfaced to suggest its version of a solution. The Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) is an organization that is lobbying to lift the ban on concealed weapons on college campuses.

Rush Limbaugh is on the air. Still. And people listen to him. This might not be such a bad thing, except that the people who listen to him are the same people leading the Republican Party. Despite rousing defeats in two election cycles, a humiliating vice-presidential candidate, the elderly and infirm constitution of its voters, a disastrous eight years in power and a social policy stuck somewhere on the wrong side of 1954, the party sticks to its guns.

On Jan. 31, Sacramento announced its solution to save $1.3 billion by next June: furloughs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest plan is to force 238,000 state employees to take an extra two unpaid days off each month.

Graduate Student Community Needs to Wakeup; Christian Scientist Shares Concern for Prayer Healing

Online schools are drastically different from the schools that we know. When Steve, an imaginary student at an online school goes to class, he wears pajamas, chomps on Cheetos and smells a tad funky. He does not bother his classmates with his odor because they are scattered around the world. All of his classes, tests and study sessions can take place wherever he maintains his wireless connection. From the bathroom to Starbucks, his learning locations and opportunities are endless. One entrepreneur wants to apply this system of education to a worldwide level and wants to make it free.

A man is approached by four plain-clothed officers on the streets of New York City and is told to stop what he is doing and to put his hands up. The officers briefly question this young man, who is 23-years-old and a recent immigrant to America. The young man is confused and reaches for his wallet to show his identification. As soon as the young man makes this move, one of the officers shouts "Gun!" and the officers quickly fire 41 fatal shots into his body.

Your take on labor justice is likely all about where you started from. My perspective starts with the old slogan, "An injury to one is an injury to all." There is probably no need to explain that expression of solidarity, but the question of unity and sharing is about with whom you practice it and how generous you want to be.

Recession? Turndown? Complete collapse? What should we call the current state of our economy? If it's not a depression, it sure is depressing. Chalmers Johnson, founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute and a former CIA analyst, has been saying for years that the United States has little to no national industry. The only thing that the U.S. currently has to offer the world, he claims, is war and the machines to make it. By that rubric, our current economic depression might not be as bad as we think. Since the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy in October, every branch of the U.S. armed services has reported windfall recruitment surges. The economy is getting so bad, it seems, that the hells of Iraq and Afghanistan seem better than the purgatory of unemployment. It is boom times indeed for the wagers of war.

The debate on abortion can never yield a winner. Giving people the right to have an abortion never feels like a victory since it allows for the snuffing out of potential lives. Taking away the right to abortion is even less appealing because we attack rights pertaining to reproduction, a gift bestowed by evolution. Taking away the right to abortion also forces children into already overcrowded families and into the arms of parents who may do considerably more harm than good. Our new president is taking the best possible steps in terms of both his policies and the manner in which he is treating the issue.