Adios Mr. Bush; his last press conference without the shoes

President Bush gave his final 47 minute press conference of his presidency. Filled with passion, defiance, reflection and light heartedness Bush displayed many emotions as he reflected on his turbulent time in office and the mistakes he made along the way. When asked to look back, he admitted some things "didn't go according to plan." Mr. Bush repeatedly said that he believes history will be the judge of his presidency. In response to a question about his extreme critics he said, "I don't know why they get angry, I don't know why they get hostile...I don't see how I can get back home in Texas and look in the mirror and be proud of what I see, if I allowed the loud voices, the loud critics to prevent me from doing what I thought was necessary to protect this country." He was very defensive about his policies on terrorism, which have given him the most criticism. He talked about his plans for the future;"I just can't envision myself, you know, with a big straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, sitting on some beach particularly since I quit drinking." He said was going to get busy quick after leaving office, but one thing he said he wasn't going to do is stay in the spotlight. "When I get out of here, I'm getting off the stage, I've had my time in the klieg lights."

Life: A Lawsuit Waiting to Happen

"In America, people used to defend their rights now they use them as weapons" writes George f. Will from the Washington Post. In a Solomonic compromise, schools in Broward Country, Fla banned running at recess because they were sued when a student fell for inadequate supervision. A young member of Teach for America was sued for $20 million because they put a hand on a disobedient 7th grade to lead them from the room. "A 2004 survey reported that 78% of middle and high school teachers have been subjected to legal threats from students bristling with rights." Some school districts have removed all the fun play ground equipment from the fear of being sued. But now with screens and electronics millions of kids are obese because of what attorney and author Philip Howard calls " a bubble wrap approach to child rearing produced by the cult of safety." These are all caused by our "legal culture" and "legal self consciousness that is stifling the exercise of judgement." Now America has become a legal minefield, and you better be careful where you step.

Journeys of a Lifetime

My mom got this really big hardcover book from National Geographic about 500 of the world's greatest trips. I was reading all about possible trips you can take all over the world. My favorite so far is the Temples of Thailand. An exotic trip to east Asia visiting the peaceful Buddhist temples scattered across the country. The total trip is 574 miles and they recommend going from November to February. Some stops on the trip are Wat Po the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok, inside there is a 150 ft. reclining Buddha statue. In Wat Traimit the Golden Buddha is five tons of solid gold. At the bottom of the article there is some odd insider information; it warns travelers not to sit with your feet pointing to a Buddha image, don't make physical contact with a monk, and not to take pictures of the Emerald Buddha. Another beautiful trip is a journey to Australia's outback and the world's oldest living culture. Arnhem land is one of the last unspoiled regions of Aboriginal culture and society in Australia it is home to over 20,000 indigenous peoples speaking a variety of languages. You can see a 40,000 year old Aboriginal rock art depicting scenes from everyday life. The culture sounds immense there, however tourism is restricted to preserve traditional ways of life.

Winter Break Blog #1

A year of our world in review: our earth has made yet another full orbit around the sun, what have we been up to on it? Even with the global economy taking a spin, developing countries around the world are growing at astonishing rates. Brazil, China and India to name a few. The world's tallest building is now in Dubai, the largest movie industry is India's Bollywood not Hollywood and the world's largest plane is made by Airbus in Europe. These changes are unsettling to some Americans, who's country has had economic, political and cultural hegemony on the world for over a century. But as writer Fareed Zakaria suggests Americans should not be afraid that this is the down fall of America but rather the rise of the rest of the world. The percentage of the world's people living on $1 a day is declining from 40% in 1981 to 18% in 2004. Our news media tells us that we live in dark dangerous times fraught with terrorism, unstable states, financial panics, outsourcing and illegal immigration, but how dangerous is our world really? Researchers at the University of Maryland have found that global violence is at its lowest levels since the 1950's. Harvard Professor Steven Pinker concludes that we are probably living "in the most peaceful time of our species' existence." America must bring these rising nations into the global system.This new year America must remain open and flexible and be the melting pot of ideas it has always been.