Spotlight

I have decided to maintain the balance between the Turkish and English posts so that we keep our bilingual label fair and square. Also, I am on the verge of giving up arguing with my brother on any matter. Therefore, I am creating this -hopefully-weekly post named "spotlight" to succesfully avoid arguing with him. I will try to convey how I feel about the current [global] events in these posts.

Ground Zero Mosque - I like how Obama supported the idea but I don't know how I would have reacted if I were born in the United States and/or experienced 9/11 in NYC. By the way this wouldn't be a discussion in Turkey, it would be political suicide (I hate fucking populism in politics). Not building the mosque would be against everything that the United States stands for. There is no law against building a mosque on the same block as ground zero. period. Anything else about the matter is motivated by emotion -completely justifiable-. Final decision: build it!

Blagojevich's trial - Today he was found guilty on one count of lying to federal authorities. 22 other counts were dismissed because of a mistrial. Most charges the jurors couldn't agree on but I've read that on some charges the vote was 11 to 1. Ok seriously who the fuck is this one man?? The general opinion in mainstream American media is that Blagojevich's approach in the trial (claiming innocence and not calling any witnesses) helped him gain the support of that one juror leading to the mistrial on numerous charges. Now the prosecutors are looking for retrying him. The Democrats are sick of the negative effect this is having over their November ambitions -understandbly- and so am I. (BTW get a fucking hair cut man, seriously) Final decision: don't retry him before November.

Wyclef Jean's candidacy - I have only one thing to say about this opportunistic, pathetic man: NO!

Proposition 8 - Justice Walker recently overturned the proposition that defines marriage between a man and a woman, banning same-sex marriage in California. Now, until the Court of Appeals review Justice Walker's decision, all same sex marriages are put on hold (only the gay community is immediately hurt by this legal process) I have intense mixed feelings about this entire situation. Personally, I feel uncomfortable with the idea of changing the definition of sacred institution of marriage, but a big part of me feels that there is nothing more sacred than 2 people honoring their love by getting married. Above this all is democracy. If the 7 million people of California vote to ban same-sex marriage, no judge should oppose it. What happened to "by the people, for the people"? The concept of democracy can't allow for ideology driven decisions of the courts to dominate the system. Final decision: shut it down..

McGrady joining the Pistons - What did you do brah? Even Shaq swallowed his ego and accepted the Celtics' offer. A player of your position (age and injury wise) has to understand that you can only compete in a championship team if you accept your bench role. Do you think Shaq is peachy that he will be benched under Jermaine O'Neal and Cedric Perkins? NO. But now he might catch up to Kobe (# of rings) or has that shot. McGrady traded his last shot at glory for the chance to make the most money and have the most shots. I thought he was better than that. I guess not. Final decision: Shaq will be happier than Tracy McGrady.

For now, this is it in the Spotlight.